
--•* ^*" 



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DR. ALLEN'S. 



SECOND CEJNTUltY 



ADDRESS, 



A T N O K T H A M P TWO N 



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v. 



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AN ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED AT 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., 



ON THE EVENING OF 



OCTOBER 29, 1854, 



IN COMMEMORATION OF THE CLOSE OF THE 



SECOND CENTURY 



SINCE THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 



BY WILLIAM ALLEN, D. D., 

Author of the American Biographical and Historical Dictionary. 



NORTHAMPTON; 

HOPKINS, BRIDGMAN & COMPANY. 

18 55. 






ADDRESS. 



Not for purposes of pride have we met on this occasion ; — not for 
the idle praise of the long since dead ; — not to extol our ancestors, be- 
cause they were our own, without aim and good result : — but to recall 
to remembrance the kind and merciful works of God towards our 
Fathers, for " he hath made his wonderful works to be remembered ; " 
and that we may also gather from a review of the past lessons of use- 
ful instruction and incentives to Christian virtue. 

It was a memorable event, — marked in the history of this world, — 
en the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock in 1620 ; it was also a 
^morable event, when the settlement of Massachusetts Bay was 
ule ten years later; and to us it should be a memorable event, when 
:ly twenty-four years still later the emigrants from the Bay — our 
thers — planted themselves here on the rich meadows of Nonotuck 
nd began the settlement of Northampton on the borders of the great 
forest wilderness, stretching far to the west and north and east, trav- 
ersed only by the roaming, copper-colored natives of this western 
world. 

We know beyond all doubt, that it is now two hundred years since 
a little colony engaged in this bold enterprise, and, having purchased 
the soil of the Indians, here built their cabins and began the cultivation 
of the soil and the organization of a town under self-government and 
for the, furtherance of the public welfare, — the common weal. 

At this period — the close of the second century, since a Christian 
community was planted in this spot, planted too by the fathers of 
many of us — it is a right feeling, I am persuaded, which prompts us 
to meet together, that we may commemorate the past, that we may 
acknowledge the kind, over-ruling providence of God, that we may 
learn the great lessons the occasion should teach us, and may be ex- 
cited anew to a course of life, not unworthy of our ancestry and of 
our privileges. 



APOLOGY FOR THE ADDRESS. 

In speaking to you at this time, at your request, it is with pleasure, 
that I lend you what aid is in my power in noticing the scenes of the 
past and in strengthening the good impressions, which should be made 
upon our hearts by recalling the toils and worth of our fathers. I love 
to dwell upon the ancient times of New England; and, indeed, as 
some of you may know, my taste for researches into the history of the 
illustrious dead of our country began to be cultivated nearly fifty years 
ago. That taste abides with me still; — not at all diminished, as you 
may well imagine, by the recent discovery, that I have myself a par- 
ticular relationship to the May Flower and Plymouth Rock, being a 
lineal descendant of Wm. Bradford, the ancient and excellent gov- 
ernor for many years of the "old colony." 

Permit me to say also, that I have a stronger affinity and alliance 
with Northampton, than that of having chosen it for my abode in the 
decline of life and having been a citizen for the last fifteen years. I 
live in the street, in which my fathers lived. My grandfather 
was the neighbor of Jonathan Edwards and his steadfast friend in all 
his trials. I stand now in this church 'on the hill,' on which hill, 
within a few rods' distance, the town gave my earliest ancestor at 
Nonotuck a home-lot, and where he dwelt within the palisades, when 
driven from his first home, half a mile distant, in the Indian war of 
1676. Let me not then be regarded only as a new-comer and a stran- 
ger. The old Nonotuck blood, from various springs, runs in my veins, 
as it does in yours. After this apology for yielding to your wishes I 
proceed to my work. You will not expect from me a minute detail 
of facts, now impossible, and which a respected fellow citizen may 
give to the public at a future time. 



WHEN WAS THE TOWN FIRST SETTLED ? 

Should it be asked, by what authority is the year 1654 and the 
month of October in that year fixed upon as the time of the settle- 
ment and legal acknowledgment of Northampton? my answer is as 
follows. 

In May 1653 certain inhabitants of Springfield and of other planta- 
tions petitioned the General Court for liberty to make a settlement at 
Nonotuck or Nolwottoge, as the place was called by the Indians. 
The following was the petition. 



" To the Right Worshipful Governor and the Worshipful Magistrates, As- 
sistants, and Deputies of this much honored Court. — Your humble petitioners 
wish increase of all prosperity. — Your humble Petitioners being fully persua- 
ded of your former promptness and pious endeavors to begin and settle Plan- 
tations in such places, as appeared convenient within the liberty of your juris- 
diction and Patent for the further enlarging ot the territories of the Gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ and the common utility of the Common Weal, arc 
therefore emboldened to present these few lines to your judicious considera- 
tion and their request therein, that you would be pleased to give and grant 
Liberty to your Petitioners, whose names are subscribed, and such as shall 
join with them according to your wonted clemency, power, right, and author- 
ity from, by, and under you to plant, possess, and inhabit the place, being on 
Conetiquot River, above Springfield, called Nonotuck, as their own inheritance, 
according to their divisions by estate, and to carry on the affairs of the place 
by erecting a town there, to be governed according to the laws, directions, and 
instructions they shall receive from you. Your Petitioners having some knowl- 
edge of the place by reason of the propinquity of our habitation to be a place, 
desirable to erect a town in for the furtherance of the public weal, by provi- 
ding corn and raising cattle not only for their own, but likewise for the good 
of others — the propagating of the gospel — the place promising in an ordinary 
way of God's Providence a comfortable subsistence, whereby people may live^ 
and attend upon God in his holy ordinances without distraction. So, commit- 
ting you to the Guidance of the mighty Counsellor, we rest your humble Peti- 
tioners. 

Edward Elmore, Richard Smith, John Gilbert, Wm. Miller, John Allen, 
Richard Wekley, Thomas Burnham, Matthias Foot, Thomas Root, Wm. Clark, 
Joseph Smith, John Stedman, Jonathan Smith, Wm. Holton, Robert Bartlett, 
John Cole, Nicholas Ackley, John Webb, Thomas Stedman, Thomas Bird, 
Wm. Janes, John North, Joseph Bird, James Bird." 

This petition of twenty-four persons was dated May 6, 1653, and 
was accompanied by the petition in aid of it of three of the principal 
men of Springfield, who were doubtless the projectors of the settle- 
ment, — John Pynchon, Elizur Holyoke, his son-in-law, and Samuel 
Chapin ; in which they state, that twenty-five families at least in the 
neighboring plantations were desirous to emigrate, "many of them 
of considerable quality for estates and fit matter for a church, when it 
shall please God to give opportunity that way;" — and they add — 
" the inducement to us in these desires is not any sinister respect of 
our own, but that we, being so alone, by this means may have some 
more neighborhood of your jurisdiction." Alone indeed the planters of 
Springfield were at that time, for there was no other settlement in Mas- 
sachusetts west of Lancaster and the immediate neighborhood of Bos- 
ton. The petition was granted by the General Court May 18, 1G53, 
and Pynchon, Holyoke, and Chapin were appointed commissioners 
to lay out Nonotuck into two plantations. 

The next step was the purchase of the land on the west side of the 
river, designed for settlement, of the Indians of Nonotuck, or Nal- 
wottoge, or Nolwottug. There are three Indians, mentioned in the 



deed as claiming to be " sachems of Nonotuck," namely, Wawhillo- 
wa — (the same as Chickwallop) — Nenessahalant, and Nassachohee; 
and by them, and one other Indian, Paquahalant, " with the consent 
of the other Indians and owners" of the land, was the deed signed, 
giving the territory to " John Pynchon of Springfield and to his as- 
signs forever; " it being understood that he was acting for the peti- 
tioners. Accordingly he assigned all his rights in this deed to the 
inhabitants of Northampton January, 1G, 1662, acknowledging, that 
he " acted in the premises only as being intrusted by the said persons." 

The land, thus purchased, extended from what is now the south 
part of Hatfield to the falls at Holyoke about ten miles, and running 
back into the woods nine miles, — or, as the line was measured from 
the most westerly bend of the river, in reality ten miles, — so that there 
was a purchase of a hundred square miles, or sixty-four thousand acres, 
including now the four towns, Northampton, Easthampton, South- 
ampton, and Westhampton. 

At a subsequent period, in 1657, the south meadow in Hatfield 
was sold to the planters for thirty-six shillings by a sachem, called 
Lampancho or Umpanchela. The meadow was called Pewonganuck 
or Capawonke or Little Pontius or Panchus, lying on the south side 
of a little river, being about five thousand acres. 

The purchase having been made Sept. 24, 1653, the proprietors 
were now in a condition to commence their settlement early in the 
next year, if first they should be able to obtain each man a distinct 
allotment of his land. 

The proprietors met at Springfield Oct. 3, 1653, and agreed, that 
all should be " resident there, and dwell themselves and their families 
there by the spring next ensuing the date hereof," or else the person 
failing to do this should " lose his money paid for the purchase, with 
the charges." At this meeting of twenty persons there were present 
only about ten of the petitioners, so that ten new persons had joined 
or proposed to join the company, but of these three or four never pro- 
ceeded to Nonotuck ; and of the twenty-four petitioners I can find, 
that only eight ever settled at Nonotuck, namely, Edward Elmore, 
Win, Miller, Thomas Root, Wm. Clark, Wm. Holton, Robert Bart- 
lett, John Webb, and Wm. Janes. 

It will be perceived, that the object of this meeting of Oct. 3, 1653 
was to secure by a definite penalty the certain and permanent settle- 
ment of the place in the spring of the next year, 1654 ; and also per- 
haps to defeat any projects of non-residents and speculators. 



The proprietors held another meeting at Springfield Nov. 15, 1653, 
at which meeting it was stated, that their petition had been " granted,'' 
and the following order or vote was passed — as found in the Proprie- 
tors' Records : 

"It is ordered and agreed, that all such persons, as shall go up to Nahvottoge 
the next spring ensuing the date hereof, there to dwell the next winter for the 
furthering and promoting the planting of the said place — it is agreed, that 
every single man shall receive four acres of meadow besides the rest of his 
division, and every head of a family shall receive five acres beside the rest of 
their division." 

Thus it appears, that in Nov. 1653 a settlement was in view to be 
made in the spring of 1654. A committee of rive was appointed " to 
receive in such inhabitants, as they shall judge fit for the carrying on 
the designs of the company, and to accommodate them according to 
the former rule, which is a quarter to twenty families, being in esti- 
mation eight hundred acres." The meaning of this is, in the expla- 
nation of Mr. Sylvester Judd, — to whose publications I am indebted 
for many facts, — that the first twenty families were to have one-quar- 
ter or eight hundred acres of the meadow, estimated at three thou- 
sand two hundred acres, that is forty acres to each; and that those, 
who came afterwards, should receive meadow land by the same rule 
or in the same proportion, reference being had to the payments, es- 
tates, and qualifications. Another rule was also adopted, that there 
must be a residence of four years before any settler should have 
power to sell or let his lands without the consent of the town, and his 
departure from the place before a residence of four years should be 
followed by a forfeiture of his lands to the town. This might have 
been a wise measure for securing a good population to the town. I 
do not suppose it ever entered the thoughts of the proprietors, that 
all the world had as good a right to settle at Nonotuck, as they had, 
and that they should exercise no control in the matter. 

But was Nonotuck actually settled in 1654? The evidence seems 
very conclusive. The primitive record of early marriages is in our 
town clerk's office, the heading of which is in these words — " Mar- 
riages since the town began, which was in the year 1654." Did not 
the first recorder know ? Can there be any doubt that the town be- 
gan — not in 1653, not in 1655 — but in 1654? 

The first recorded marriage is that of David Burt and Mary Holton 
Nov. 18, 16. . , — the two last figures of the year being obliterated. 
The next marriage being that of John King and Sarah Holton Nov. 
18, 1656, it might be supposed the two marriages were on the same 
day in the same year. But, as by the list of births, it appears that 



David, the son of David Burt, was born July 30, 165G, it is evident, 
that the year of his marriage was before 1656, and probably 1654. 
For several years the magistrate and not the minister was authorized 
to marry. 

Next, on the first page of the old town records of Northampton, is 
the following, the first document. 

" A true copy of the bounds of the plantation, which the Committee, ap- 
pointed by the Honored General Court, laid out to the Planters of Nonotuck. 

" Whereas we, whose names are underwritten, were appointed by the Gen- 
eral Court of the Massachusetts to lay out the land at Nonotuck for two planta- 
tions, for the present we have only appointed the bounds of one of them, to 
which we allow the great Meadow on the west side of Conecticote River, as 
also a little meadow, called by the Indians [Capawonke] which lieth about two 
miles above the great Meadow, the bounds of which plantation is to extend 
from the [south side] of the little meadow, called Capawonke, to the great falls 
to Springfield ward, and westward is to extend nine miles into the woods from 
the river of Conecticote, lying * * * east the foresaid meadows and [the same] 
to belong to the planters and such as shall come to plant with them, who ac- 
cording [to the] liberty granted from the Court have made choice thereof for 
themselves and their successors, not molesting the Indians [nor] depriving 
them of their just right and property without allowance to their satisfaction. 

By us, John Pynchon, 
Elizur Holyoke, 

Springfield, 9th of May, 1654. Samuel Chapin." 

It does not appear, that this paper was actually recorded in 1654 ; 
but as its date is May 9, 1654, and as it declares, that the lands de- 
scribed in it belong " to the planters," " who have made choice 
thereof for themselves and their successors," it is very evident, that 
at the date of it there were planters in Nonotuck, or men, who pro- 
posed to go up immediately as planters, and for whose benefit the 
document was written in the spring of 1654. 

The following is a record of the General Court, — the date of the 
beginning of the session being Oct, 18, 1654: — the words " Nao- 
tucke Plantation " on the margin : — 

" To the Honored General Court of the Massachusetts. We whose names 
are underwritten being appointed to divide the lands at Naotucke into two 
plantations, Ave accordingly have granted to them, that now first appear to re- 
move thither to plant themselves on the west side of the River Conecticott as 
they desired and have laid out their bounds, viz., from the little meadow above 
their plantation which meadow is called Capawonke or Mattaomett down to 
the head of the falls, which are below them, reserving the lands on the east 
side of said river for another Plantation, when God by his Providence shall 
so dispose thereof, and still remain your humble servants, John Pynchon, Eli- 
zur Holyoke, Samuel Chapin." 

"The Court approves of this return." 

It appears from this record, that the Report or Return of the Com- 
mittee, who made the first division of land at Nonotuck among the 



settlers, was considered and approved by the General Court at their 
session of Oct. IS, 1654. If we add eleven days in order to bring the 
old to the modern reckoning, we shall have Oct. 29th — this very day 
— as the completion of the 200th year from the only legal incorpora- 
tion of the town, of which we have any knowledge. No other charter 
can be found : no other charter perhaps was ever given, or was de- 
sired or thought to be necessary. 

It appears from the records, that May 1, 1655, Ebenezer, son of 
Joseph Parsons, was born ; and it appears also that there was a town 
meeting Dec. 11, 1655, when the "townsmen" or selectmen were 
chosen " for the town of Northampton.'" There is no account of 
the time, when this name was adopted instead of Nonotuck or Nall- 
wottoge, nor of the reason of the name ; but as Springfield was so 
called, because Mr. Pynchon came from Springfield near Chelmsford, 
England, so it is likely, that Northampton owed its name to the fact, 
that John King, an early settler, came from Northampton, England, 
— a town, afterwards the residence of Dr. Doddridge. 



THE INDIAN PURCHASE. 

If you ask, what price was paid for the large and rich territory of 
Western Nonotuck, you will be informed, that the price was one 
hundred fathoms of Wampum, ten coats, the plowing of sixteen acres 
in the summer of 1654 on the east side, of the river, and a few small 
presents. The wampum was the Indian money, made of white sea 
shells, — being beads from the Meteauhock or periwinkle. The suck- 
auhock or black money, of double the value of the white, was made 
of the Poquauhock, or hens. Wompi means white ; sucki black. 
Six small unstrung beads were sold for a penny. When strung, a 
fathom was worth about one dollar in Narragansett, and at one time 
two dollars at Boston. One or two hundred dollars was then the sum 
paid in wampum. This with the other payments may seem a small 
remuneration for so much land ; but the land was abundant and the 
purchasers were few. Besides this, the Indians might expect, that 
for years they would be little disturbed in their hunting grounds, while 
they had on the east side of the river all the land they wanted for cul- 
tivation. It was a fair purchase, for the mutual advantage of both 
parties. That the savages after a few years fled before the advance- 
ment of civilized life was the consequence of their preferring their 



10 

own habits and resisting the meliorating and christian influence of the 
new settlers. The Nonotuck Indians were enticed to espouse the 
cause of King Philip in the war of 1G76, and on his death they aban- 
doned this fair valley and left it to the undisputed possession of 
the whites. 

Of the Indians, who once occupied this region, not a descendant 
remains amongst us ; nor do we know where a descendant is to be 
found. There is nothing left to indicate their past existence, except 
a few names of places, and a few stone implements of their manufac- 
ture ; the most remarkable of which is a stone kettle, which was re- 
cently plowed up in this town after it had lain in the ground nearly two 
hundred years. It was called aukook ; the Delawares called it by a sim- 
ilar name, aukeek. No aukook is preserved in the museum of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society ; and, so far as I know, this is the 
only stone aukook of the whole race of Indians, preserved at the 
present day in the old Bay State. It seems to be made of free-stone, 
such as is found in the quarry at Middlefield. In the day of its man- 
ufacture it was the most important and valuable of all household 
implements. 

We know not the meaning of Nonotuck, unless perhaps it be ' in 
the midst of the river,' which is the meaning of Noautuck in Eliot's 
Indian Bible. By the windings of the river the meadows of North- 
ampton and Hadley seem to be in the midst of it. 



CHARACTER AND NAMES OF THE SETTLERS. 

But who were the men, that with a bold spirit of adventure dared 
to plant themselves down at Nonotuck? This was an affair, which 
required no small degree of courage. Let it be considered, that in 
the whole eastern part of Massachusetts there were only about forty 
settled towns, the nearest of which were Lancaster, Dedham, and 
Watertown, — Worcester being not settled till thirty years afterwards. 
Springfield was indeed only seventeen miles distant; — but the whole 
country to the east unto the neighborhood of Boston was unsettled, 
and so the whole country west unto Albany ; and the vast region 
north to Canada was a dreary wilderness. There were scattered along 
the river many tribes of Indians, whose hostility, — should it be awa- 
kened, — might be desolating and fatal to the English settlers. It is 
no great affair, at the present day, to emigrate to Minnesota, or Kan- 



11 

zas, or even to California : there are thousands of fellow countrymen 
to be found as protectors. But who will protect the adventurers at 
Nonotuck, if the Indians should be soon hostile, when even in Wind- 
sor, so late as 1G70, the number of the Indians was to that of the 
whites as nineteen to one? 

Among the early settlers many, probably most, were natives of 
England, emigrants in 1G30 and afterwards, who first went from the 
neighborhood of Boston to Hartford, Windsor, or Springfield, and 
thence proceeded up the river to Nonotuck : others were born in this 
country. Of the former class, born in England, if I mistake not, 
were Isaac Sheldon, John Strong, Thomas Ford, Edward Elmore, 
Aaron Cook, John Hillyer, Wm. Hulbert, Thomas W'oodford, Sam- 
uel Wright, Joseph Parsons, Thomas Bascom, Richard Lyman, Thom- 
as Judd, and John King. 

Within four years from its origin, from 1654 to 1G58, the settlers 
of Northampton, whose descendants remain here, or in the neighbor- 
hood, were Robert Bartlett, Richard and John Lyman, James Bridg- 
man, Thomas Bascom, Thomas Root, Alexander Edwards, Samuel 
Wright, William Miller, David Burt, John King, Isaac Sheldon, Sam- 
uel Allen, Joseph Parsons, Wm. Hannum, Wm. Hulbert, Nathaniel 
Phelps, and John Stebbins. 

In the four next years, from 1658 to 1662, came Edward Baker, 
Alexander Alvord, Eleazer Mather, Wm. Clark, Henry Woodward, 
Enos Kingsley, Aaron Cook, John Strong, Medad Pomeroy, Jona- 
than Hunt, John Taylor, and John Searle. 

After these came Preserved Clapp, Israel Rust, Caleb Pomeroy, 
Solomon Stoddard, Robert Danks, Samuel Judd, and Thomas Judd. 

Many of these families were very prolific, so that their descendants 
in a few generations became very numerous. One of our fellow citi- 
zens, skilled in his accurate researches, has published an account of 
the number of children in each of about twenty-five of the ancient 
families, there being 10 in each of seven families, — 11, 12, and 13 in 
several, — 15 in two, and 17 in two families. If we should take the 
lowest number ten as the average of their descendants in each family 
in each generation of thirty-three years, you might be surprised 
to learn, that the descendants of one family, in the six generations 
down to this time, would now amount to one million, and the descend- 
ants of the twenty-five first Nonotuck families would be now equal to 
about the whole number of the inhabitants of the United States. 

We are informed, that of the thirty-eight settlers in the first four 



12 

years from 1654 to 1(358 thirty-two had their home lots near the pres- 
ent centre, and built their houses on Pleasant, King, Hawley, and 
Market streets. Afterwards the planters settled at the west of the 
meeting house and .on the south side of Mill River. 

The settlers were men of enterprise, of good sense, and truly 
Christian men. They combined industry and prudence, patient labor 
and economy. If all the fair scenery around us of fields and meadows, 
of fruit trees overladen, of thriving villages and splendid mansions we 
should contrast with the discomforts and gloom of a cold and dreary 
wilderness, — the whole change is to be ascribed to patient industry 
under that good providence, which causes the grass to grow and the 
seed planted in the ground to multiply fifty or a hundred fold. So 
that the idler does not seem properly to have any thing to do with this 
world. It was not made for him. — It may be indeed, that some of us 
in this age escape the necessity of labor in consequence of a surplus, 
created in past generations, having fallen into our hands; but we are 
bound at least to toil in the world of mind and in the labors of charity. 

It was the early care of our fathers to institute and support the 
ministry of the gospel as the divine method appointed for the teaching 
of the truths of religion. And in establishing schools they doubtless 
considered, that the untaught will not read, nor think, nor reason. The 
powers of the mind must be cultivated, else they will not yield a use- 
ful product, any more than we can expect in the material world an 
abundance of good fruit, when the seed is not carefully put into the 
ground, and all culture is neglected. 



THE FIRST PILLARS OF THE CHURCH. 

Of the seven pillars of the church, — on which, with Mr. Mather, 
the minister, the church was constituted June 18, 1G61, — it would 
be interesting to have a particular account ; but of most of them very 
little is known, as of David Wilton, Henry CunlifTe, Thomas Root, 
and Thomas Hanchet. Mr. Hanchet was a deacon in 1668, and re- 
moved to Westfield. Mr. Root had lived many years in Hartford. 
William Clark was of Dorchester in 1636, and as late as 1657, after 
which year he removed to Northampton, and was the ancestor of a 
great multitude of descendants. Four of his sons, men of eminence, 
lived half a century ago on Elm Street; and five deacons in the 
church were his descendants, two of whom are among the living. 



13 

Henry Woodward, one of the pillars, came from Much Worton, 
Lancashire, England, with Richard Mather of Dorchester, and was 
killed by lightning at the upper corn mill, April 7, 1G83. His de- 
scendants are numerous, especially in Connecticut ; one of whom was 
the late lamented Dr. Samuel B. Woodward of this town. Another 
was the late Henry Woodward, missionary to Ceylon, who died in the 
east, — son of Professor Woodward of Dartmouth College. 

The remaining and principal pillar of the church was Elder John 
Strong. He was the son of Richard Strong of Taunton, England, 
or of that neighborhood, and was born in 1G07. About the age of 
23 he set sail from Plymouth, March 30, 1630, in the ship Mary and 
John, in company with the ministers Warham and Maverick. He 
arrived in two months, May 30th, and settled at Dorchester. His 
wife died soon after his arrival, or before. His second wife was 
Abigail, the daughter of Thomas Ford of Dorchester. He lived in 
Hingham in 1635, and thence removed to Taunton, where he was 
made a freeman of Plymouth colony Dec. 4, 1633. He next removed 
to Windsor; and thence to Northampton in 1659, five years after the 
settlement began. He was one of the first members of the church in 
1661, and received ordination as an Elder — not as a minister — in 
1663. After a residence here of forty years he died in 1699, the 
father of sixteen children, all but John, the eldest, by his last wife. 
His descendants of course were very numerous, including most or all 
bearing the name of Strong in this part of the State, as well as others 
of the names of Clap, Parsons, Barnard, Clark, and Dudley. — The 
late Governor Caleb Strong was of the 5th generation from the Elder. 
The names of his ancestors are these ; John Strong and Abigail Ford; 
next Ebenezer Strong and Hannah Clap; then Jonathan Strong and 
Mehitable Stebbins ; then Caleb Strong and Phebe Lyman, the pa- 
rents of the governor. By this enumeration we may perceive the 
affinity of families of well known names. 



MEETING HOUSES. 

The first meeting house was contracted to be built by five of the 
settlers to be done by the middle of April 1655, twenty-six feet long 
and eighteen feet wide, of " sawen timber," that is of squared logs, 
with one door and two windows, having a thatched roof, like the first 
dwelling houses. The expense was 14 pounds to be paid in work or 



14 

corn. The place was this meeting house hill, then covered with 
trees. 

The second meeting house, forty-two feet square, was built after 
six or eight years, the first becoming a school house in 1663. 

The. third meeting house, built in 1737, stood also on this hill, a 
few feet in front of this house, in which we are now assembled. Few 
of you ever saw it, but my memory, as one of the ancients, runneth 
back to its existence ; and I have occasion to remember it, for, unfur- 
nished as it was with furnace or stove, I preached two sermons in it, 
on a winter's day in 1806, just hard on now to forty-nine years ago. 

The present meeting house, the fourth, was dedicated in 1812 ; and 
this we all acknowledge as a beautiful temple, a proof of the taste and 
skill of the distinguished architect, Capt. Isaac Damon, who still wor- 
ships in the house, so long since by him constructed. 

The third meeting house had a bell, which was moved across tim- 
bers laid from its belfry over to the cupola of the present house with- 
out being taken down to the ground. The summons to attend wor- 
ship in the second meeting house was not by a bell, certainly not in 
1677, 1678, and 1679, for in those years Jedidiah Strong was paid 
18 shillings a year for "blowing the trumpet," the manner of sum- 
mons used by ancient Israel. This, according to my taste, was much 
better, than "the beating of a drum," which was the method of call, 
adopted in Springfield, — though the drum may seem not inappropri- 
ate to the time in the Connecticut Valley, when good men, through 
fear of an Indian attack, carried their guns with them to the house 
of God on the Sabbath. 



THE FIVE FIRST MINISTERS. 

It may here be convenient to give in one brief connected view an 
account of the five first ministers, being all the ministers of the old 
church, who are deceased. 

The first minister of Northampton was the worthy son of a distin- 
guished father, — Eleazer Mather, the son of Richard Mather of 
Dorchester, where he was born May 13, 1637. Having graduated in 
1656, he came to Northampton to preach in 1658, four years after 
the first settlement. When the church was gathered three years af- 
terwards, June 18, 1661, he was ordained the pastor. He and seven 
others were constituted the pillars of the church, entering into a mu- 



15 

tual covenant : and these afterwards admitted other members. Such 
was the custom of early times in New England. Thus New Haven 
had seven pillars in 1G39, of which Mr. Davenport was one : and 
Mil ford Church was constituted at New Haven at the same time in 
the same manner ; and thus it was with respect to Guilford church in 
1643. Mr. Mather lived after his ordination only eight years : he 
died July 24, 1609, at the early age of thirty-two. His wife, Esther, 
was the daughter of John Warham, the first minister of Windsor : 
she afterwards married his successor at Northampton, Solomon Stod- 
dard ; and his daughter, Eunice, also married an eminent minister, 
John Williams of Deerfield, and was killed by the Indians. Cotton 
Mather, in his History of New England, says of Mr. Mather — " As he 
was a very zealous preacher, and accordingly saw many seals of his 
ministry, so he was a very pious walker ; and as he drew near towards 
the end of his days, he grew so remarkably ripe for heaven in an holy, 
watchful, fruitful disposition, that many observing persons did prog- 
nosticate his being not far from his end." — After his death there was 
published from his manuscripts in 1671 a serious exhortation to the 
succeeding and present generation, being the substance of his last 
sermons. 

The second minister of Northampton was Solomon Stoddard, 
born in Boston in 1643, and graduated at Cambridge in 1662. After 
preaching at Barbadoes nearly two years, he was ordained at North- 
ampton Sept. 11, 1672, having in August been admitted to full com- 
munion in the church ; and was able to preach nearly fifty-five 
years before he had a colleague. He died Feb. 11, 1729, aged eighty- 
five. Few ministers were so eminent in their day as Mr. Stoddard. 
He was a learned man and published many sermons and treatises. 
In his book, entitled the doctrine of instituted churches, he main- 
tained, that the Lord's table should be accessible to all persons not im- 
moral in their lives ; that the power of receiving and censuring mem- 
bers is vested exclusively in the elders of the church ; and that synods 
have power to excommunicate and deliver from church censures. His 
doctrine concerning the Lord's supper was the cause of great contro- 
versy in New England ; and in his notions of church government, it 
would seem, he was more favorable to presbyterianism, than to the 
Congregationalism of the Cambridge Platform. As a preacher he was 
very successful : he used to speak of having had five harvests, in 
which revivals the inquiry, ' What must I do to be saved 1 ' was the 
general inquiry of the town. — He married the widow of his predeces- 



16 

sor. His son, Col. John Stoddard, was a man of distinction in public 
life. Of his many descendants now living here and elsewhere it may 
not be proper, that any thing now should be said. If the impress of 
his love of divine truth and of his Christian character remains among 
them, the praise is due to the God of their father. 

President Edwards was the third minister of Northampton. Set- 
tled as a colleague with Mr. Stoddard for two years, he became sole 
pastor in 1729. His ministry here was only a little more than twen- 
ty-three years, as he was dismissed in 1750. He afterwards lived a 
few years at Stockbridge and a few weeks at Princeton as the Presi- 
dent of Nassau Hall, and died March 22, 1758, aged only fifty-four 
years. 

There seem to have been two causes of his dismission, — first, his 
rejection of the doctrine of Mr. Stoddard and of the church concern- 
ing admissions to the Lord's supper, and secondly some of his move- 
ments as to matters of discipline, to which the church had not been 
accustomed, and which they regarded as rigid and severe. It may 
be, that his people were in the wrong, and that their treatment of him 
is worthy of indignant reprehension ; yet some allowance may be 
made for the force of prejudice, for the strength of old customs and 
habits of thought, for family pride, and for the reverence felt for the 
venerable name of Mr. Stoddard, whose principles had been opposed 
by his successor. Yet, it must be confessed, their treatment of the 
minister, — in whom once they gloried and for whom they were ready, 
as it were, ' to pluck out their eyes ' in their love to him, through whom 
the gospel came with power to their hearts, — is a melancholy proof, 
that perfection does not belong to individual Christians nor to bodies 
of Christians in this world, and should be a salutary check and reproof 
of the pride, which may be apt to spring up in the sons of Nonotuck. 

As to Mr. Edwards' philosophical opinions or his metaphysical the- 
ory, some orthodox theologians have judged concerning it, that it can- 
not be reconciled with human accountableness and the justice of God, 
and therefore cannot be true, inasmuch as it takes from man a 
self-determining power, or the power of volition, and subjects him 
in the movements of his will to an iron necessity from the action of 
some constraining efficient cause. But whether or not his theory is 
true, it was never introduced in his preaching at Northampton ; it has 
nothing to do with the success of his plain preaching ; indeed his very 
learned book on the Freedom of the Will was not written until after 
he left the town. 



17 

The philosophy of this world has nothing to do with the triumphs 
of the gospel, which demands repentance of sin, faith in the Son of 
God, the atoning sacrifice for sin, — a pure, new-created heart through 
the renovating spirit and power of God, sought by prayer. It is a 
joyful consideration, that the humble, the poor of this world have the 
gospel preached unto them. It is insolent pride, it is stubborn de- 
pravity, which work the perdition of the soul. 

To the labors of Mr. Edwards it pleased God to give, still more 
wonderful success, than to those of Mr. Stoddard ; especially irKthe 
year 1735, when almost all the people of the town were under deep 
religious impressions. Although a man of learning and of great 
acuteness, and celebrated for his metaphysical writings ; yet his 
preaching was plain and scriptural, solemn and pungent, very intelligi- 
ble to his hearers, and coming home to their consiences and hearts. 

His descendants, it is well known, have been ranked among the 
most distinguished men and ministers of New England. 

The fourth minister of Northampton was John Hooker, a descend- 
ant of the celebrated Thomas Hooker of Hartford. A native of 
Farmington, a graduate of Yale in 1751, he was settled in 1754. Af- 
ter a ministry of about twenty-three years he died Feb. G, 1777, aged 
forty-eight, deeply regretted by his people. He was an able minister, 
of uncommon suavity of temper and the most engaging manners. 
Two published sermons furnish honorable testimony of his piety and 
talents, — one of them at the ordination of T. Allen, Pittsfield. 

It is remarkable, that both Mr. Hooker and Mr. Edwards died of 
a disease, which is now by the medical art disarmed of its terrors : 
they were the victims of the small pox. Why they were thus cut 
down in the midst of life and usefulness is a mystery of providence, 
which we are not competent to fathom. 

The fifth minister of Northampton was Solomon Williams. He 
was born July 25, 1752; graduated at Yale College in 1770 ; was or- 
dained June 4, 1778 ; and died Nov. 9, 1834, aged eighty-two, having 
been in the ministry fifty-six years. 

He was of a family distinguished in the annals of New England 
and which furnished for this country a large number of ministers. 
Robert Williams, his ancestor, was of Welsh descent and came from 
Norwich, England, to Roxbury in 1638; whose son, Captain Isaac 
Williams, lived in Newton, the father of the eminent William Wil- 
liams, the minister of Hatfield, whose wife was Christian, the daugh- 
ter of Mr. Stoddard, and the sister of President Edwards' mother. 

3 



18 

William Williams of Hatfield had three sons, who were ministers, 
— namely, Wm. Williams of Weston, Elisha Williams, President of 
Yale College, and Dr. Solomon Williams of Lebanon. The latter 
was the grandfather of Mr. Williams of Northampton, whose father 
was Dr. Eliphalet Williams of East Hartford, who died in 1803. It 
is remarkable in the providence of God, that these four ministers, — 
the great grandfather, the grandfather, the father, and the son, our 
late minister, should each have preached a half-century sermon from 
the time of his settlement. 

From Deacon Samuel Williams of Roxbury, the son of Robert 
Williams, descended another race of ministers : — John Williams of 
Deerfield was his son; and he had three sons, who were ministers, — 
Eleazer Williams of Mansfield, Dr. Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, 
and Warham Williams of Waltham. 

Few servants of God are permitted to remain in the ministry so long 
as Mr. Williams, although not so long as Mr. Stoddard. — That he had 
in early life a good reputation for learning is evident from the fact, 
that he was several years one of the tutors of Yale College, associated 
with Dr. Dvvight and Dr. Buckminster, also tutors. 

In his old age he had several colleagues and assistants in the min- 
istry; but during the time of his being the sole pastor more than nine 
hundred members were received into the church. That he was a faith- 
fid preacher of the gospel will not be doubted. He was plain, and sim- 
ple, and made no oratorical display ; in his preaching scriptural, per- 
spicuous, direct ; in his prayers comprehensive, short, and appropri- 
ate. He was remarkable for his, punctuality in all the appointed and 
usual services of the minister. As the teacher of one of the largest 
parishes in New England he had the happiness to see the people of 
Northampton all united and undivided for nearly fifty years. 

At last, after his long toils in the service of God, came his days of 
sickness, and his friends had an opportunity to see how a Christian 
can die. Humility was a prominent trait, which he manifested : he 
cherished no feeling of self-righteousness ; he uttered no word of self- 
praise : he expected nothing by way of merit, but every thing from the 
divine mercy in Jesus Christ, his Lord. Some of his utterances were 
the following : — " O, what a poor, unworthy creature I am! The 
lowest place among the sons and daughters of God becomes me. Oh ! 
if any will have cause to glorify God, I shall ! " 

In his great distresses he said in patient resignation — "I haven't 
got home yet. 1 want to get home, and not stay in this world of 



19 

sin; but not till God chooses : I want to be in heaven, but not till 
God calls me; that is the best time." — Of the constant pious temper 
of his mind these his words give good evidence — "For more than 
forty years, whether at home or abroad, riding or walking, my mind 
has been in a devotional frame, praying for myself, my family, my peo- 
ple, the church of God, or the world." 

However great his humility and self-abasement, yet he had Christ- 
ian peace : his words were — " a hundred times a day I say, that God 
is my father, Jesus Christ my Savior, the Holy Spirit my sanctifier ; re- 
ligion is to be my unceasing employment, while I live, and I shall dwell 
with Christ and be employed in his service forever and ever.'"' Among 
the last of his intelligible expressions were the words, " all is well ! " 
He published " a historical sketch of Northampton," a sermon, 1815. 



SALE OF LAND TO HADLEY SETTLERS. 

The planters of this town were interested in the settlement of a 
neighboring town, to be interposed between them and the great north- 
ern wilderness. They therefore sold, Oct. 17, 1658, to the proposed 
settlers of Hadley the meadow at Capawonke at Hatfield of eight hun- 
dred or nine hundred acres on condition of payment of 10 pounds in 
wheat and peas, and of a settlement on both sides of the river by May 
1659, and not deserting the plantation for seven years. The settle- 
ment, being the second plantation of Nonotuck or Nalwottoge, was 
thus made and was called Newtown, and was incorporated Hadley in 
1661, named from a town in Suffolk, England : Hatfield was set off 
from it in 1670, named from a town in Hertfordshire, England. The 
committee for laying out Hadley in 1659 were Pynchon, Holyoke, and 
Chapin, with the addition of Wm. Holton and Richard Lyman. 



CEMETERIES, SCHOOLS, MINISTRY. 

The dead of Nonotuck were buried near the church on meeting- 
house hill for six or seven years until 1661, when the present ceme- 
tery was selected. The road to Windsor was laid out in 1664 — which 
was the way to market. Paying their province taxes in wheat, it was 
carried in carts or waggons to Hartford, and thence by water to Bos- 
ton at the expense of one-third of the cargo. 

As to the payments for Schools, in 1663 a schoolmaster was to re- 



20 

ceive 6 pounds and the charges for tuition. In 1G70 one hundred 
acres were appropriated for schools. In 1G87 the grammar school- 
master had a salary of 20 pounds and tuition fees : in 1725 his salary 
was 45 pounds. And from that time a grammar school, with little 
interruption, has been sustained down to the present time. 

In the year 1821 it was stated, that many years before that period 
one hundred of the youth of Northampton had been liberally educated. 
How many, in the last forty or fifty years, are to be added to this 
number I have had no time to ascertain; nor how many natives of 
this town have been ministers. Surely this town has done much for 
education and learning. 

Of the liberality of the early settlers for the maintenance of religious 
institutions there is very ample evidence in the records of the town. 
Mr. Mather had a salary of 80 pounds, and lands were given him, for- 
ty acres, and a house which cost 100 pounds. Ln 1663, in the ninth 
year of the, town, it was voted to raise 115 pounds for the new meet- 
ing house, and 120 pounds for preaching one year — a very large sum 
considering the value of money and the number and ability of the 
settlers. To Mr. Stoddard, besides his salary, 100 pounds was given 
for a house, four acres for a house lot, and also lands of the value of 
100 pounds. 

Mr. Edwards received for a settlement 380 pounds, and some lands, 
with a salary of 100 pounds. 



RELATION TO INDIANS. 

The people through their justice and kindness to the Indians seem 
to have lived more than twenty years in perfect peace with them, even 
allowing them to build a fort within the town in 1664 on certain con- 
ditions of their good conduct, as in observing the sabbath — giving up 
their powowing — abstaining from liquor and cider — and respecting 
the property of the settlers. But of the conversion of any of these 
Indians to the Christian faith there is no account. 

In consequence of the Indian war a guard was kept continually in 
1675, which in the next year consisted of fifty soldiers. The meeting 
house was fortified in 1677. In 1690 a fortification was carried quite 
around the village. In the war of 1746 watch houses were built and 
dwelling houses fortified or palisaded, or at least one in every little 
neighborhood. 



21 



EMPLOYMENTS, TOWN OFFICERS. 

Among the early settlers there was no lawyer nor physician, there 
heing little occasion for either, when men do not quarrel with each 
other nor with the laws of industry and temperance; but they had a 
carpenter and mason, though perhaps the latter was only wanted to 
put up a stone chimney ; — a tanner and shoe-maker, for they must 
wear shoes ; — a weaver, in whose art many became expert, as every 
family must be clothed; — a blacksmith, and cooper, and mill-wright, 
for they were to rise above the rudeness of grinding their corn by 
^hand-stones. If some were mechanics, yet all were farmers. Two 
men had additional grants of land on condition, " that they supply 
the town's need of smithery, and coopery ware." A venerable dea- 
con was both a blacksmith and a farmer, and also a retailer of wines, 
— concerning whom is the report, that marrying the widow of Mr. 
Chauncey, the minister of Hatfield, the sermons of President Chaun- 
cey of Cambridge were thus brought to Northampton and did good ser- 
vice in " lining the patty pans," in which the good woman made pies 
for sale as accompaniments to her husband's wines. But, if these ac- 
counts are true, these luxuries must have sprung up many years after 
the first settlement. 

Town officers were of course created according to the exigences of 
the times, — among which we find a recorder, a measurer of land, a 
supervisor of roads, — a constable acting in various capacities, as tith- 
ing man and collector, carrying a black staff, — a sealer of weights and 
measures, — a fence-viewer, — a meadow bailiff, whose duties related to 
cattle and swine, — a town treasurer, and an overseer of the poor, 
which could not have been in those days very laborious employments ; 
— a clerk of the writs, to issue warrants and take bonds ; — a cow-herd, 
or herdsman, paid in wheat by each cow-owner; — a shepherd, whose 
care however would have been very inadequate to the protection of 
the sheep without a bounty of ten shillings for each wolf's head, paid 
in wheat. Capt. Aaron Cook must have been expert not only with 
his gun but with traps and pits, for in three years he killed twenty- 
seven wolves : the heads being brought to a select man, he cut off the 
ears " according to law." 



22 



UNSMOOTH COURSE OF TRUE LOVE. 

I believe the people here have always been characterized by intelli- 
gence and good sense. The witchcraft delusion, though known in 
Springfield, Hadley, and Salem, did not make a lodgment in North- 
ampton. No old women in this town have ever been accused or 
imprisoned for witchcraft, nor thrown into a pond for the same, to see 
whether they would sink or swim : if they drowned, to be proclaimed 
innocent, — if they swam, to be hung. Yet, it must be confessed, the 
witcheries of the Northampton young women have been felt by stran- 
gers and foreigners, as well as by citizens, in every age. 

An ancient proof of this is found on the records of the court at 
Springfield. Samuel Allen of Northampton, my earliest ancestor 
here, brought an action against John Bliss of Springfield for stealing 
away the affections of his betrothed wife, Hannah Woodford, laying 
the damages at 50 pounds ! The true account of the matter is, that 
a young woman bewitched two men at the same time ! For some 
reason the suit was withdrawn and prosecuted successfully in a 
more private court-room, to the great joy of the prosecutor, but doubt- 
less much to the grief and sadness of Mr. Bliss. 



COLONIES IN THREE TOWNS. 

Northampton, as the parent of the three beautiful towns of East- 
hampton, Southampton, and Westhampton, has no reason to blush for 
her children, — all of whom take pleasure in doing honor to their com- 
mon parent. What is memorable in Easthampton may be included in 
its early settlement, begun at Nashawannuck in 1665 ; — in the Indian 
massacre of nineteen persons, — men, women, and children, — at Pask- 
homuck, May 13, 1704 — when one woman was taken to the top of 
Pomeroy's mountain and was tomahawked and scalped, but survived 
and lived to the age of eighty, — and in subsequent deaths by Indian 
attacks; — in its incorporation as a district in 1785 and as a town in 
1809; — in the organization of the church in 1785, and the settlement 
of the first minister* in August 1789, a venerable servant of God, 
now living at the age of ninety-one, — and in the founding of a large 
and flourishing academy by the liberality of that minister's son at his 
sole expense, bestowing an equal amount upon Amherst College, in 
*Payson Williston,D. D. 



all more than a hundred thousand dollars, — an almost unequalled ben- 
efaction to literature and charity. 

In respect to Southampton, one might speak of the first meeting of 
the proprietors in 1730; of its settlement in 1732 and its formation 
into the Second Precinct in 1741 ; — of the constitution of the church 
and the ordination of the first minister June 8, 1743, — Jonathan Judd, 
who died July 28, 1803, aged eighty-three, — succeeded by Vinson 
Gould from 1801 to 1832, and by Morris E. White from 1832 to 1852, 
and by the present minister, Stephen C. Strong; — of the change of the 
precinct into a district in 1753 ; — of the sufferings from the Indians 
in 1747 and 1748; — of the brave and patriotic spirit of the people in 
the French and revolutionary wars ; — of the remarkable success of 
the preached gospel attended by divine power at different periods, in 
one instance eighty persons being added to the church in one year ; — 
of the many ministers, about forty in number, natives of this retired 
town, who have been sent out over our country, one of whom was the 
very learned and scholarly Professor Bela B. Edwards of Andover, 
whose literary labors are in some respects of incomparable value and 
held in the highest estimation, and another is the present venerable 
pastor* of the church on the other side of the river at East Nonotuck, — 
a church still older than ours, although the town of Hadley was later 
in its settlement. 

Of Westhampton much might be said, though a small secluded and 
hilly town ; — of its settlement about 1767 ; — of its incorporation as a 
town in 1778; — of its first minister, Enoch Hale, ordained in 1779, 
when there were about three hundred inhabitants, and remaining till 
his death in 1837, aged eighty-four, — succeeded by Horace B. Cha- 
pin, his colleague from 1829 to 1837, — and by Amos Drury from 
1837 to 1841,— by David Coggin from 1841 to 1852, and by A. Big- 
elow, the present minister ; — and of its being, in its deep solitude, the 
birthplace of a few men, who have exerted a wide and important in- 
fluence in our Commonwealth and through our country. I allude to 
Nathan Hale, son of the first minister, the aged editor of the Boston 
Daily Advertiser. I allude also to another man of still wider influ- 
ence, though not in the sphere of politics, — Dr. Justin Edwards, a 
minister in Boston and President of the Theological Seminary at An- 
dover, whose early and extensive labors in the cause of temperance 
are well known; and equally well known are his labors to promote 
the general observance of the Lord's Day ; and whose last toils were 

*John Woodbridge, D. D. 



24 

brief comments on the Scriptures for the benefit of all the people. A 
native also of Westhampton was Sylvester Judd, Jun., a young man, 
recently deceased, — a Unitarian minister in Maine, — whose Memoirs 
are now attracting the attention of many readers. 



PATRIOTISM OF THE TOWN. 

In the arduous struggle for Independence Northampton acted well 
her part, both furnishing soldiers and liberally contributing for their 
subsistence. There are on record town votes to provide for losses in 
clothing by certain soldiers, — to encourage enlistments, at one time 
by paying 15 pounds, at another by offering 30 pounds to each soldier 
enlisting for three years or during the war, — to appoint a committee 
to collect from house to house donations to be sent to Albany to be 
distributed among the soldiers from this town, — and another commit- 
tee to provide for the families of men absent in the war. 

When in the early part of the contest a committee of correspond- 
ence, inspection, and safety was appointed, the following fifteen men 
were selected in 1775, showing their prominence in the town, — Jo- 
seph Hawley, Robert Breck, Ezra Clark, Josiah Clark, Jacob Par- 
sons, Col. Seth Pomeroy, Elijah Hunt, Ephraim Wright, Elias Lyman, 
Elijah Clark, Capt. Joseph Lyman, Quartus Pomeroy, Win. Phelps, 
Caleb Strong, Jun., and Dr. Levi Shepherd. 

Brigadier General Seth Pomeroy was a distinguished officer in the 
Revolution ; he was also a soldier in the French war under Sir Wm. 
Johnson. At the defeat of Dieskau he was present: in the battle of 
Bunker Hill he was a volunteer. He was appointed a brigadier June 
22, 1775 ; but died of the pleurisy at Peekskill in February, 1777. 
He was an ingenious mechanic and manufacturer of arms. 

Major Jonathan Allen was another soldier in the Revolutionary 
war. He fought in the battle of Saratoga, of which he gives an ac- 
count in his journal in my possession. Being at home on a furlough, 
he went out with a neighbor to hunt deer and was shot and killed, 
Jan. 7, 1780, aged forty-two. For many years he had been an exem- 
plary professor of religion: his last moments were cheered with the 
hope of a resurrection to a blessed immortality. 

And here it may be proper, as illustrative of the spirit of the times, 
to speak of four brothers of Major Jonathan Allen, natives of this 
town, who like him were distinguished in the Revolution for their 



25 

patriotism and courage, three of them ministers of the gospel, one of 
whom, settled at Midway in Georgia, was taken prisoner in Savan- 
nah and drowned in attempting to swim ashore from a prison ship as 
related by Dr. Ramsay; — another was an officer, charged with the 
conduct of Maj. Andre from the place of his capture to West Point, 
but afterwards the first preacher at Brighton near Rochester, and the 
founder of churches in all that region; — and the third, my own 
father, the first minister of the beautiful village of Pittsfield, who for 
the protection of his fireside rode up with his people one day to Ben- 
nington, — fought in the battle the next day, — and the third day rode 
back triumphing and grateful to his safe home and the care of his 
flock, forever to be honored as a Christian patriot. 

Other citizens of Northampton fell in battle; — and at an earlier pe- 
riod, at Lake George in September, 1755, fell Capt. Elisha Hawley, 
Lieut. Daniel Pomeroy, and Thomas Wait : the former was the broth- 
er of Joseph Hawley, whose heart was pierced by the death of one 
much beloved. 



MEN EMINENT IN PUBLIC LIFE. 

After the passing away of the first generation one of the most re- 
markable of the men of the town was Colonel John Stoddard, son of 
the second minister, a graduate of Harvard in 1701, and who died 
June 19, 1748, aged sixty-six. His various services cannot be enu- 
merated. Mr. Edwards' sermon on his death was published. His 
venerable grandson, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, still lives 
amongst us, the founder of a much respected family, the father of sons, 
treading in the steps of an honored ancestry. 

Of Joseph Hawley, the grandson of Mr. Stoddard, Dr. Dwightsays 
— that " he was one of the ablest and most influential men in Massa- 
chusetts Bay for a considerable period before the Revolution : an 
event, in which few men had more efficiency. He was a very able 
advocate. Many men have spoken with more eloquence and grace : 
I never heard one speak with more force. His mind, like his elo- 
quence, was grave, austere, and powerful." The value of his liberal 
bequest for schools was at one town meeting estimated at about 900 
pounds for the lands, not including, I think, the house. Another de- 
ceased liberal benefactor of our schools was the late Judge Joseph 
Lyman. 4 



26 

Major Hawley's patriotic pride was stronger than the hypocondria, 
to which he was subject, — for when Mr. Strong, his fellow represent- 
ative, returned from the General Court, and heard his desponding 
language as to success in the Revolutionary struggle, " we shall both 
be hung," and replied to him — " No, Maj. Hawley ; probably not 
more than forty will be hung — we shall escape!" — he was aroused, 
and replied, " I will have you to know, that I am one of the first 
three ! " and the next day he made a flaming whig speech before the 
town. 

Governor Caleb Strong, who studied law with Mr. Hawley, died 
suddenly Nov. 7, 1819, aged seventy-four. A patriot of 1776, he as- 
sisted in forming the constitution of his native State in 1779 and in 
1787 that of the United States, under which he was a Senator for 
eight years to 1797. He was Governor of Massachusetts from 1800 
to 1807 and from 1812 to 1815, — in all for ten years. He and Mr. 
Williams married daughters of Mr. Hooker. 

President Dwight, whose father lived in the house occupied by Dr. 
Walker in King street, was grandson of President Edwards, his moth- 
er being Mary, Mr. E.'s third daughter. He died Jan. 11, 1817, 
aged sixty-four, having been President of Yale College twenty-one 
years. 

If I should undertake to call your attention to the characters of all 
the eminent and memorable men of Northampton since the days of 
the first fathers, and known in more recent times, I should far trans- 
cend the limits of a single discourse. It would be necessary to speak 
of distinguished statesmen, known both in the halls of Congress and 
in our own State House, — of learned and eloquent lawyers, — and of 
respected Judges of our courts ; — also of a succession of skilful phy- 
sicians and of upright and successful merchants ; — and of a long list 
of honored magistrates, of ingenious mechanics, and substantial, in- 
telligent farmers. But concerning a host of worthies I am compelled 
to be silent. 



PURITAN ORIGIN OF THE SETTLERS. 

The first settlers of Massachusetts were of two classes ; first, the 
Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, who fled from the north of England to 
Holland, and thence came to' America, — and the emigrants about 
1630 to Salem and the neighborhood of Boston, who came from near 



27 

London and the south and west of England. Both were Puritans; 
and, having tasted the bitterness of despotic power, they were hostile 
to it in church and State ; and they landed on Plymouth rock and 
pitched their tents on Trimount in Massachusetts Bay as the found- 
ers of a State without a king and of a Church without a bishop. 
They had a strong conception, that ancient tyrannical institutions, a 
resistless despotism, and childish pageantry and ceremonies did not 
constitute a State ; — but they had imbibed the ideas and theory, ex- 
pressed by a Greek poet, that a State was constituted by men, — by 
free, high-minded men, — who knew their rights, and, knowing, dared 
maintain them ; and that the foundations of a State were to be laid 
in equal, impartial, sacred law. — In respect to the constitution of a 
church the two classes of settlers were much agreed, except, that at 
Plymouth there was a little more of the democratic element, and less 
of authority in the minister. Most of the first settlers of Northampton 
were from the neighborhood of Boston ; whence they emigrated ulti- 
mately to this wilderness, that they might have the benefit of many 
acres of land and plenty of room for growth and expansion. We may 
imagine how delightful it was for them to settle down in the fields and 
meadows on the borders of a glorious, dark, untouched forest, fur- 
nishing materials for houses and resinous pine-knots as lights for their 
dwellings, — and game for their food, — the small and large rivers con- 
tributing to the same object. The land they cultivated yielded an 
abundant product. Here they could breathe freely. They had cour- 
age, manliness, independence; they tasted the joys, they cherished 
the hopes of the settlers in the wilderness. They could see their 
children coming easily into the possession of estates like their own. 
Thus in following the dictates of reason and conscience they found 
themselves — as all such men will find themselves ultimately, if they 
do not immediately, — in the pathway of prosperity, happiness, and 
honor. 



EMIGRANTS FROM NORTHAMPTON. 

This little spot in the wilderness has not only been changed into 
beauty and elegance by the unslacked hand of industry ; but it has 
been the nursery of men, whom it has sent out widely in our country 
and even to distant countries ; it has reared up men eminent in peace 
and in war, in the Senate and the Church, acting well their part in 
all the professions, avocations, and conditions of life. 



28 

If we go into our great cities, there we may find active, prosperous 
citizens and even merchant princes, who have been emigrants from 
Nonotuck. As to the Empire city, its growth in all, that makes it a 
truly great city, has not been wholly a domestic Dutch growth : it has 
sprung much from the country towns of New England ; and the love 
of freedom, which was nourished on the banks of a broad, free river, 
and in the neighborhood of mountain heights, — ever the abode of lib- 
erty, — has found strong utterance amidst the pressing calls of busi- 
ness in the stone pathway of mammon, and has sent out a voice start- 
ling, alarming, and terrifying to the men of the south, who forge chains 
for their fellow men, aiming always to enlarge the domains and in- 
crease the power of slavery, and who thrive on the life-blood and the 
souls of the victims of their cupidity. 

It is not the great object of human existence to grow rich ; but 
wealth gives a certain degree of earthly distinction; and wealth well 
employed and liberally distributed is worth gaining and bestows im- 
perishable honor. Perhaps half a dozen or more Northampton boys, 
who were brought up in the simplest habits of a country life, by their 
enterprise and the divine blessing acquired large fortunes, being worth 
from a hundred thousand to half a million or more of dollars each, — 
though some of them lost all in the general wreck of property in 1837. 
I knew^two of these, who had prosperous banking houses in four large 
cities, — and who were not strangers to charitable deeds. Another, a 
merchant prince, failed for a million of dollars; — yet justly and hon- 
orably paid up every cent. But what he had given away in charity 
he did not, he cannot lose. As a benefactor of the Western Reserve 
College, and as one of the founders of Oberlin College, Ohio, — a 
seminary of some peculiarities and oddities, yet extending the benefits 
of a literary and Christian education to both sexes and all colors, and 
having this year the astonishing number of eight hundred pupils, and 
wielding an immense influence for good ; as one of its founders he 
must feel a high satisfaction. 

Another emigrant to another city has been abundant in charities 
and liberal communications, some of which from time to time have 
come to the place of his birth for the aid of learning and religion; 
and his time and good judgment have for years been bestowed in aid- 
ing the direction of various benevolent societies. Two of the sons of 
Nonotuck are of the Prudential Committee for the management of 
our largest and most important charity, the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions. But all these grew up under the 



29 

teaching of Christian parents, remembered with deep gratitude and 
profound reverence. 

It has been said, that there have been or are emigrants from North- 
ampton in every State of the Union, including California. Citizens 
of this town were large owners of land in the Western Reserve; and 
this led to a considerable emigration to Ohio, where a town is named 
after this; and other towns bear the names of citizens of this place. 
One young man from here went as a farmer to Ohio soon after its 
settlement began : he became a lawyer, and was many years a 
Senator of the United States, and is still living at a very advanced 
age. Another emigrant from this town is now a Judge in Ohio. 
Another more than fifty years ago established a newspaper which he 
still conducts, — a political " Sun," shedding its light, if not more 
widely, at least on the hills and vallies of Berkshire. 

Colonel Ethan Allen of Vermont, of Revolutionary memory, was 
descended from an early planter of this town ; and so was the late 
Silas Wright, a statesman of New York. But in vain shall I attempt 
to enumerate the absent and distant sons of Northampton. 



MISSIONARIES FROM THIS TOWN. 

Of one, however, I may not neglect to speak — a descendant of the 
venerable minister, Stoddard, — a skilful astronomer as well as 
missionary, who has been for years an able and successful teacher of 
the way of salvation to his brethren in distant Persia, carrying back 
to the east that blessed light, which centuries ago came out from the 
east to the west and lighted up the dark wilderness of Nonotuck. Nor 
ought I to omit saying that a daughter of Nonotuck was the compan- 
ion of an early missionary to the Sandwich Islands; that another with 
her husband is now a missionary instructor and guide of dark-minded, 
deluded men on the southeastern coast of Africa; — and another is the 
companion on the mountains of Lebanon of the very learned Christian 
teacher of unequalled skill in the languages of the east, the translator 
of the scriptures into Arabic. But, while I speak of the living mis- 
sionary, surely I ought not to neglect to recall to your thoughts the 
dead, who were animated with the like noble Christian spirit, as 
Henry Lyman, who in his youth was a victim in the cause of benevo- 
lence, being murdered by the Battahs in Sumatra, in 1834. To his 
memory we have in our cemetery a cenotaph : and it stands by the 



30 



side of the monument over the body of Brainerd, by the history of 
whose life Lyman doubtless was animated in his toils and sacrifices 
for the salvation of the heathen. 



MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 

You will perceive, that it is impossible for me to speak of the 
changes, improvements, and advances wise or unwise of modern times 
— of high school, and law school — of the excitement of the mulberry 
tree cultivation — of the introduction of broom corn — of the water cure 
by a colored professor — and of new water cures, where men go to the 
water carried for them to the top of a hill, instead of descending for 
it to the river — of the community of goods scheme and its evanish- 
ment — and of the waking up of the people by the railroad whistle — 
of the new method of mowing forty acres of meadow grass in one day 
by a team of horses ; — and further, that I cannot attempt to give a his- 
tory of the many new churches, which have sprung up where, within 
my memory, there was only one, nor speak of the eminent living min- 
isters, once teachers here, as Drs. Tucker, Penny, Spencer, Todd, 
Wiley, Rogers, and others, which Northampton has sent out as lights 
to other parts of our country. 



LOVE OF EARLY HOME. 

Do not all wanderers from their native village retain in sweet mem- 
ory the home of their childhood and youth as the dearest spot on the. 
face of the earth ? For this imperishable attachment two reasons may 
perhaps be assigned ; first, because in that place their eyes first opened 
to the beautiful or sublime scenery of nature, — first saw the green 
field, the smooth meadow, or the broad prairie ; — the full-leaved tree 
and dark forest; — the stream, as it dashes over the rocks, or winds 
along the level surface, or swells into a mighty river ; — the expanded, 
calm lake, or the trackless, illimitable ocean, dashing in fearful surges 
on the shore; and the arch of the blue sky over all, and in that sky 
the glorious sun, and the moon and the stars of the evening; — and, 
next, because in that place the young eye first saw the beaming affection 
of a mother's face, and the young heart first felt the emotions of re- 
gard and trust towards a father and of love and delight towards sisters 



31 

and brothers. Thus with all, that in our early life made glad our 
soul, is associated our early home. 

The natives of this fair region are bound to their home not indeed, 
like the natives of Switzerland, by the sublimity of ever snow-capped, 
unascendable mountains and of swift-rushing and roaring torrents, 
bursting from the foot of ever-enduring glaciers, — but by mountains 
of milder majesty, at the foot of which flows the broad, equable, quiet 
river, through meadows of unequalled beauty, with upland varied 
scenery most delightful to the eye. Happy are they, who as they 
gaze upon the forms of beauty and grandeur, which were among the 
earliest objects of their vision, have their thoughts and affections 
raised to Him, whose hand fashioned them, and who is himself "first 
fair, first good," and of infinite majesty and glory. 



FAITH AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE FATHERS. 

But a higher consideration, than that of outward nature, as marking 
the place of our birth, is the character of our ancestors, including the 
system of religion and morals, which they embraced and practised, 
and the institutions of education and learning, which they founded 
for the benefit of their descendants in future ages. 

What if the noble-minded, enlightened men, from whom we sprung, 
had been of the class of idolators, still composing the greater part of 
the human family 1 Then we might have been the poor, besotted 
worshippers of a block of wood or of uncouth images in stone and 
metal, — the miserable slaves of terrifying superstitions. What if they 
had been of the same class with the Spanish conquerors and planters 
of Central America, the subjects of the Romish Hierarchy ? With 
such ancestors we might have been, under the name of Christians, 
the adherents of that new idolatry, which had its origin at Rome, and 
which shows its debasement and absurdity in the worship of a cross 
of wood, and apiece of bread, — of the dead virgin Mary and number- 
less other dead saints, — to the dishonor of the God of heaven, who 
will not give his glory to another. Then we might have been among 
that class of religionists, all whose great bishops from all parts of Eu- 
rope and America are in a few weeks to assemble at Rome, in obedi- 
ence to the summons of the Pope, to settle the strange question, — 
which, it seems, that pretended true church has left unsettled for 
eighteen hundred years, — whether the doctrine of the immaculate 



32 

conception is true, — that is whether we are to ascribe to the virgin 
Mary an existence among the sinful family of man without the taint of 
sin, common to all others ? We may well be astonished at the folly 
of such a convocation, on such a question, which has no bearing 
whatever on the character, dignity, and glory of the Son of God. But 
as Mary is the chief object of worship in the Catholic idolatrous church, 
we know how the decision will be made by the Pope. But we did not 
spring from men, thus blinded, bewildered, and debased, — held in 
bondage through ignorance and superstition to the most revolting ty- 
ranny, — the tyranny of priestcraft and greedy covetousness over the 
reason, and conscience, the fears, and the purses of men. 

No. Such was not our descent. But our ancestors knew the pure 
truth of God; they received it into their hearts, and obeyed it in 
their lives ; and knowing its value, in respect to the present life and 
the future, both to themselves and their children, they fled from the 
bigotry and oppression of the English Hierarchy, and abandoning their 
pleasant homes they sought a refuge in the wilderness of America, 
where they might breathe a free air, and worship God in the manner, 
which they found taught in scripture, and which their reason ap- 
proved. And thus following the path of duty they built up a new 
home, still fairer in itself, than the dear native home, which with 
many a pang of heart they had forsaken, not without casting many 
" a longing, lingering look behind." 

It was only seven years after the first log houses were constructed 
in this village of the wilderness, when our fathers organized an insti- 
tution, memorable in the history of this world, of unspeakable impor- 
tance for the maintenance and spread of the truth and for the welfare 
of mankind : they established here a Christian church, after the 
models presented in the New Testament. That is, a few servants of 
God and disciples of Jesus Christ formed an agreement, entered into 
a covenant one with another, declaring their belief of certain Scrip- 
tural doctrines, and pledging themselves to the observance of the 
Christian ordinances and the practice of the Christian virtues, that 
they might aid each other in the way to heaven and might transmit 
their own privileges and untrammelled worship and dearest rights to 
their posterity. This covenant made them a church : their pastor 
was not a lordly bishop to rule over them : he was one of their num- 
ber, entering into covenant with them, as their teacher and guide, 
their friend and brother. After a couple of years an elder was chosen 



33 

as an assistant to the minister and a deacon was also elected ; but the 
first office of elder fell into disuse after a little more than half a cen- 
tury, and there remained only the minister and deacons as the es- 
sential or useful officers of the church. 

Our Fathers did not irreverently and disobediently ask, ' What 
need is there of this church combination and covenant 1 Why should 
not the believers in divine truth be left to promote the interests of re- 
ligion in their own way, by their uncombined efforts? ' They knew, 
it was the command of the King of Zion, that there should be a Christ- 
ian society, agreement, and covenant, — the adoption of certain rules, 
— the pursuit of a certain plan : and this to them was sufficient : it 
was their business to obey. Infinite Wisdom knew what was wisest 
and best. But it requires only a little reflection to discover in the 
structure of the church its wise adaptation to preserve the truth, which 
has been revealed from heaven, — to impress it more and more deeply 
upon the hearts of those, who embrace it, — to spread abroad its in- 
fluence upon others, especially upon the children of believers, — and to 
secure its transmission in its purity to subsequent generations of men. 
The Bible may indeed teach, if men will read and understand it, con- 
sulted in their closets : but the living preacher addresses the eye and 
the ear; he explains and illustrates ; and, speaking to a multitude, in 
one assembly, he arouses their attention, enlightens them and con- 
strains them to understand ; — he transmits to them his own strong 
emotions, and by all the topics of persuasion urges them to flee from 
sin and from misery, and to practice " the godliness which hath the 
promise of the life, which now is, and of that, which is to come." — 
And then again the two ordinances of Christianity teach most impres- 
sively and affectingly the two great principles of sanctification by the 
Spirit and of redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ : and the church 
covenant binds the members to acts of Christian brotherhood and 
friendship. 

Next in importance to the church was the early establishment of 
schools for the education of the children of the planters, that they 
might not be left to grow up in ignorance and rudeness, undisciplined, 
untrained to obedience, self-willed, — the future unhappy heads of 
families, — the pests of society, — and the hopeless travellers towards 
another and eternal world. Our fathers thought of schools very dif- 
ferently from Berkley, an early Governor of Virginia, who wrote as 
follows, — " T thank God, there are no free schools or printing ; and I 
hope, we shall not have them these hundred years ; for learning has 

5 



34 

brought heresy and disobedience and sects into the world, and print- 
ing has divulged them and libels against the best government. God 
keep us from both." The Nonotuck planters' prayer was very dif- 
ferent from this. 

One other institution ought not to be overlooked, also existing in 
all the villages of New England, — that of the self-government of towns 
by their own free votes and the election of such few officers, as were 
necessary to carry into effect their purposes and resolves. This 
made the people the friends of law and the supporters of a free re- 
public. 



AN ACT OF LIBERALITY BY OUR LATER FATHERS. 

That our fathers in this village nearly a hundred years ago, not- 
withstanding the narrowness of their fortunes, were not destitute of 
an enlarged and liberal spirit, nor deficient in the love of what is beau- 
tiful and in the judgment of a good taste is proved by one very united 
act of theirs, for which ' recorded honors' may well gather around their 
names. I will not repeat their numerous names, for you may all 
know them already, or may easily find them. Many of you bear them. 
But the act, to which I allude, I will explain. They had reached 
that period in the social progress of this village, when the hard strug- 
gle for subsistence began to be alleviated and they were able to give 
some little attention to the embellishment and adornment of their dwel- 
lings and grounds, and the improvement of their common home. They 
widened the streets : they saw, that it would add much to the beauty 
of this village in all future time and would benefit the whole county of 
Hampshire, if a certain private estate in the very centre of the town, 
at the junction of the four streets, was purchased for the public, the 
house removed, and the grounds thrown open, to be forever an unen- 
closed green, excepting that a court house for the county might be 
there erected. They therefore liberally contributed of their hard earn- 
ings and for a considerable sum made the purchase, and presented the 
lot to the inhabitants of the county as a site for a court house and for 
1 a green or common,' and for no other purpose whatever. Could they 
have foreseen what a very elegant and splendid row of buildings 
would be constructed by private enterprise and taste on one of the 
sides of the proposed green, — buildings showing forth their beautiful 
proportions after the lapse of a hundred years, — they would have found 



a new satisfaction in the manner, — in which they evinced their pub- 
lic spirit, and generous character, and love of the beautiful. Nor can 
I doubt, that when another hundred years has taken its flight, — and 
an unsightly, intruding structure by a returning sense of justice and 
honor, and in obedience to a recent and existing order of the County 
Commissioners, has been displaced, — when elegant rows of buildings 
shall be on all sides of the public square, and the county court house 
shall look down towards the morning sun upon its own unobstructed 
beautiful green, — there will then be a just appreciation of the noble 
spirit of the donors, — the benefactors of the town and the county. 

WHx^T, IF NOW LIVING, THE FATHERS WOULD SEE. 

One could almost wish, that our fathers were permitted to revisit, 
at this time, the place of their abode, and to contrast the past with 
the present ; — their log houses, standing among the stumps of forest 
trees, with the present mansions of comfort and beauty ; — their rude 
encampment with a village of taste and elegance, comprising not only 
private dwellings, but numerous temples, consecrated to law, to jus- 
tice, to education, to health, to the wants of refinement, to the arts of 
life, and to the worship of God ; — their rare moving and slow-moving 
private post, — making them acquainted, at long intervals, with the 
more populous regions, whence they had emigrated, — with the rapid- 
ity, and regularity, and frequency of our public mails, and especially 
with that wonderful, mysterious, lightning dialect, in which we can 
converse in a moment with a friend at a thousand miles' distance ; — 
their rough, home-spun and home-woven garments, the product of 
great domestic toil, with our elegant webs for clothing, which are 
produced by hundreds of wheels and hundreds of shuttles, moved with- 
out hands or feet by the force of water or of steam ; — their saddles and 
pillions and ox-carts or ox-sleds for travelling with our multitudinous, 
divers-fashioned carriages of ease and luxury ; — their very cramped 
and imperfect aids to educational labors with our abundant supply of 
all the discoveries, inventions, and appliances, which now quicken the 
progress of children and youth in the path-way of knowledge ; — and, 
finally, their limited means of spiritual improvement, — though they 
had all, that was essential, — the Bible and the preacher, — with our 
innumerable means and aids of religious instruction and incitement 
in religious books, and tracts, and journals, ever new and adapted to 
every age and every condition and shape of life. 



36 

WHAT THE FATHERS MIGHT EXPECT OF 1 US. 

In the view of these and other changes, improvements, and advances 
our fathers might well say, that surely their children must be far wiser 
and betler, more upright, just, virtuous, holy, and happy, than they 
were while laying the rude foundations of such new and polished soci- 
ety. But would they find the children thus surpassing the fathers? 
Would they find a deeper sense of justice, a sterner integrity, a more 
effective charity, a purer, simpler piety, — a more cheerful resignation 
in trouble, a humbler walk with God, a holier life, a more triumphant 
death? Would they find here a village of purer morals, undefined 
with the grossness of intemperance, unstigmatized with night-thefts 
and great crimes ? Would they find the people industrious, but not 
sinfully greedy of filthy lucre. — ' ready to distribute, willing to com- 
municate;' — abundant in noble acts of charity and true beneficence 
in correspondence with their increased means of doing good ; — not 
bound down to the earth by the influence of worldly prosperity and 
wealth, but living with their affections placed on the things above ; lay- 
ing up for themselves ' incorruptible treasures ;' — and by their fervent, 
importunate, and unceasing prayers seeking the advancement of that 
holy and blessed kingdom of Christ, with which is associated all their 
happiness ? 

I say not what they would find, could they walk again in these 
streets, in which were the last steps of their earthly pilgrimage. I 
put not these questions by way of reproach ; but as such, as we are 
all bound to put to ourselves, for "of them, to whom much is given, 
much will be required." 

With such ancestors, as God has given us, — with the lustre of their 
upright and holy examples shining in our path-way, — with an inheri- 
tance they have left us of almost unapproached commingled beauty 
and magnificence, — with invaluable institutions, the germs of which 
they put into the ground, and which are now in full-spread expansion 
and fruitfulness, — let us all feel the pressure of these good influences, 
calling us " to glory and virtue." 



THE PATH TO HEAVEN. 

If we would learn the way to the eternal mansions, we have only 
to follow the same guidance, by which they were conducted, — the 
guidance of Him, who came down from heaven to tabernacle in hu- 



37 

man flesh, and who is " the way, the truth, and the life ; " — who was 
himself, in his own sufferings, a sacrifice for the sins of men, and who 
in his memorable prayer just before his betrayal uttered these words, 
— " And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." In this teaching let 
us confide, — in its simple meaning, unclouded by the theories of phi- 
losophy, whether ancient or modem, — in its full extent, as implying 
the knowledge of the heart as well as of the understanding, all the holy 
emotions springing from our relation to God and to his Son, our 
Savior, — and a spirit of entire and cheerful obedience to the com- 
mandments of Him, whom God hath constituted King on his holy hill 
of Zion. 



FINAL TEACHING OF OUR HISTORY. 

The review we have taken of the history of Northampton ought not 
to fail to bring to us — in reference to our moral being — one most im- 
portant lesson, else the historic survey of a multitude of interesting 
facts will be lost labor, — idle, worthless employment of time and 
thought. Where, for the greater part, are the generations of the last 
two hundred years? — the hundreds and the thousands of our ances- 
tors or friends, who once lived in this sweet valley of our abode, and 
looked upon its majestic river, and lifted their eyes to the dark and 
noble mountain ranges around, and above them to the glorious sun 
in the blue sky, or to the silver moon and resplendent stars of the 
night? They are not here; they are gone! Their eyes are closed 
and their bodies sleep in our thick-shaded cemetery ; and we are from 
day to day to follow them to the narrow house, appointed for all the 
living; — not at a known and foreseen period, — not in any discernible 
order, — not by the operation of conspicuous causes, — not at a defi- 
nite age nor after a definite course of earthly experiences, nor after a 
certain number of solemn monitions ; — but perhaps at a moment, when 
we think not, — suddenly, — promiscuously, — in childhood, youth, man- 
hood, or old age, as it may be, — by a sudden blow as of lightning 
glancing from the cloud, or by the steady inroads of a lingering dis- 
ease, a stern enemy, pressing upon us until his aim is accomplished, 
— blasting our dearest joys, — disrupting the ties of strongest affection, 
despoiling us of our wealth, treading down our honors, bearing us away 
from our beloved home, and shutting us up in a narrow pit in the ground. 



38 

Such is our fate, such is our doom, as taught by the review of the past 
in respect to the men, who have lived here before us. Then ought we 
not to see, and to know, and to feel, that the busy toils of the earth in 
planting the seed and gathering in the harvest, — in the diligent hand- 
lino- of matter by mechanical skill, — in the sorting, and exchange, and 
sale of the products of nature and of art, — in the analysis of the parti- 
cles of the earth or in probing the highroads of the stars in the heavens, 
— in the search of science and cultivating the refinements of literature, 
— in disentangling the complexity of statutes and vindicating the su- 
premacy of law, — in guiding wisely the heavy, crushing car of war, 
and in shaping aright the courses of national policy, — in making new 
inroads into the fields of discovery and invention, and in multiplying 
the books, under which the earth groans ; — ought we not to feel, that 
all these and all other pursuits of this world are "vanity?" But 
then each of the men, women, and children, whose bodies sleep in our 
well-peopled cemetery, and each of the sons of Nonotuck, whose 
bodies sleep elsewhere, had another nature besides the body; and that 
nature, that spiritual nature is not here, was not shut up in the close 
coffin, and lies not in the narrow pit. — And where is it ? Whither 
has the spirit gone ? If the Bible is true, — if its ample teaching, 
which I have studied for three-score years, is plain and palpable ; then 
it is not true — as some misguided men allege — that the future, in re- 
spect to all human beings, is a sea for the voyagers, unruffled by any 
storm, not exposed to the perils of any collision, and where no ship- 
wreck can possibly be known ; but, on the contrary, the future brings 
punishment to the guilty as well as eternal good to the righteous ; for 
the Judge himself has taught us, that he will say in the great day of 
scrutiny, when all men, with new-formed bodies, shall stand before 
him, — " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels," to them, who shall be for their wickedness on his left 
hand, — but to the holy and just on his right hand — " Come, ye bles- 
sed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world." 

With this certain alternative before us, — compelled to the convic- 
tion, — as there is no hint of any other probationary state, — that we 
must be placed, and may be soon, among one or the other of the two 
classes, who are to be assembled in the judgment, — with what an ir- 
resistible force ought the claims of religion to come upon our souls? 
I do not say, the claims of a denomination, of a sect, of a faction, of 
a company ; but the claims of our broad and common Christianity, — 



39 

that we love God with all the heart and worship him in the beauty of 
holiness ; — that we exercise faith in his crucified Son, the Redeemer, 
the sacrifice for the sins of men, the light of the world, the resurrec- 
tion and the life ; — that we love our brethren, as we love ourselves ; — 
that we repent and believe, — turn from sin and practice righteous- 
ness • — that we "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this presenist 
world," — " looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and 
our Savior Jesus Christ.'' 

If this lesson does not come to us from the history of the past, — of 
how little comparative value must be its teachings concerning worldly 
prudence, economy, and industry, — which, standing alone, are but the 
perishable virtues of the earth, — quitting us at the very moment, when 
we need the peace of a Godward trust, the joys of a heavenly hope, 
the triumphs of an exulting faith 1 

If there is any place in New England, where the power of true, 
sweet, loving, heavenly religion has been experienced in New Eng- 
land's past generations ; — that place, I am convinced, is Northampton, 
under the crystal, heaven-derived teachings of Stoddard and Edwards 
and tbeir successors in the ministry, accompanied by the Divine spirit, 
bringing those teachings to the heart ; — proved to be efficacious by 
the transformation of pride to humility, of worldliness to charity, of 
impurity to holiness, of hatred to love, — of profaneness to fervent de- 
votion, — of all wickedness to every Christian virtue. And these 
changes have occurred, age after age, under circumstances to impress 
upon the world the interposition of the power of God, — sometimes 
most sudden, wonderful, and overwhelming, — as though to annihilate 
the philosophy, which speaks of the unfolding by culture of man's 
natural goodness, and to shame the reason, which denies the possibility 
of a sudden turning about from sin to God. 

I know from our history, that allowances must be made for unin- 
tentional exaggeration, — that imperfection betrays itself, — that some- 
times the road of folly is taken after a choice of the path of wisdom, — 
that self-deceit and hypocrisy are intermingled with truth and piety. 
But, after all deductions, a great sum of goodness remains. I have 
seen with mine own eyes in this place, more than half a century ago, 
the piety, then beaming forth in an ancient of fourscore years, — who 
had lived in the friendship of Edwards, — as clear and radiant as the 
sun in heaven ; — and I have seen here in recent times the same piety 
commingled with the charity, which said to a poor aged Indian sister, 
the last of the race — ' Thy home shall be with me, as long as I live ! ' 



40 

And what has been, may it not be again? And will it not be, 
when Christian professors awake from their slumbers, and pour out 
the strong breathings of a heavenly charity into the ears of God? 

In what way can we better honor the memory of our pious and ex- 
cellent ancestors in this valley of delight, than by catching the noble 
spirit, by which they were animated, — by proving that we inherit as 
well their character, as their estates, — by maintaining and strength- 
ening the institutions, which they commenced and founded, — and by 
the cheerful service of the same omnipotent Preserver and Benefac- 
tor, whom they worshipped here in the wilderness, and by cherishing 
the hopes of the same gospel, which enabled them to depart from 
this, their earthly abode, in the triumphs of Christian faith to ascend 
to their everlasting home in the heavens ? 

We cannot trace our descent from what is called noble blood on 
the other side of the ocean, — and we have no connexion with 

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power:" 

we sprung not from a race of princely warriors, who divided among 
themselves the territories of a conquered country, creating great, and 
wealthy, proud families on the bondage and degradation of the people, 
whose toil furnishes the food of their pride and luxury and criminal 
self-indulgence. But we had ancestors, who were among the true 
nobles of the earth, — the sons of God, " a royal priesthood, a peculiar 
people;" — men, who made great sacrifices for truth and for duty and 
for the glory of their Maker ; — men unknown to fame, yet who at- 
tained to true and high honor, for 

" This is true glory and renown, when God, 
Looking on th' earth, witli approbation marks 
The just man." 

Just men indeed were our fathers in the intercourse of the earth, 
and, in a higher sense, just men with God by reason of their faith in 
his crucified Son. What thanks, then, do we owe to God for such an 
ancestry, — for such examples, — for such lights and guides in the path- 
way of duty, — for the fruits of their industry, temperance, and econ- 
omy, — for the institutions, which they founded, — for the pure and un- 
ccyrupted gospel, which they transmitted, — and that, through them, 
" our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and we have a goodly 
heritage?" 



41 

FORWARD LOOK TO THE THIRD CENTURY. 
At this anniversary we can hardly avoid glancing a thought forward 
to the return of another century of years, when the third grand period 
since the settlement of Nonotuck will be closed. It will be nothing 
to us, for not one of us will be here ; — nothing to us, except as our 
present toils and influence may have a bearing on the character and 
welfare of the thousands, who may then live in this village. I believe 
in progress — in the certain advancement of the human family towards 
the ultimate good destined for the race of man ; not founded on a 
certain supposed natural law of improvement by science, and art, and 
culture in successive ages, but a progress, resting on God's purpose 
and promise, by means of his own divine truth revealed from heaven 
and brought with new power to the understanding and heart. After 
much study I may be permitted to say, that I have no doubt, the 
Scriptures speak of a long and disastrous sway in this world of an 
impious and tyrannical power, described as ' forbidding to marry, 
and commanding to abstain' from lawful meats, — as 'sitting like a 
god ' in God's temple, and exacting from men a new idolatry and 
subjecting them to a most grievous bondage : — nor can I doubt, af- 
ter tracing the history of this prominent and well-known power, that 
the days of its existence are well nigh ended, so that perhaps in less 
than two centuries the annihilating blow will be struck. But whether 
or not this conclusion be right, the event, when it comes, will be 
brought about by the progress of God's truth, by its strong radiance 
poured upon the public mind, and its sweet and holy influence felt 
in the hearts of men. In this way will the dark errors of the earth 
be scattered, as the gloomy shadows of the night are dispersed by the 
rising sun. 

When the pure truth of heaven shall gain its destined sway here 
below, then shall the power of a besotted idolatry be overthrown 
amongst the nations; — then shall the impious rule of the Roman des- 
potism, which has for many ages controlled a corrupted church, come 
to an end, and there will remain none of the marvellous absurdities, 
by which the intellect of man has been overwhelmed, — as that a piece 
of bread is through the prayer of a priest transmuted into God, — or 
that a cross and an image of wood or silver are fit objects of religious 
worship, — or that a dead woman is to be worshipped as the mother of 
God and the queen of heaven, the patroness of men. Then amidst 
the wreck of the innumerable illusions of the earth there will remain 
no fragments of the systems of error; none of a horrible atheism; — 
none of the pantheistic scheme, which converts all the objects of na- 

6 



42 

ture into parts of God ; — none of the invented theories, which conflict 
with the attributes and revealed character of the divine being; — none 
of the long-prevalent and wide spread Mahomedan imposture; — none 
of the teachings of a proud rationalism, which rejects the divine reve- 
lation, nor of any anti-christian scheme whatever, which denies, that 
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh in order to expiate sin by his 
death on the cross : — and then will the multiplied forms of strange de- 
lusion and amazing stupidity in our own enlightened country vanish 
away, and there will remain no followers of the various sects, which 
from time to time have their origin in imposture, or fanaticism, or the 
failure of the powers of reason ; — no followers of a bewildered north- 
ern philosopher, claiming to be a prophet without any miraculous 
power as the indispensable seal and proof of his mission ; — no follow- 
ers of our American profligate and tyrannical prophets, who have 
gathered a great company of licentious and pitiable dupes and shut 
them up helplessly, as in a pound, near the great salt lake, our sea of 
Sodom, in the western wilderness ; — no followers of a pretended spir- 
itualism, signalized by rapping on tables or overturning them and by 
idle and ridiculous communications from the new oracles ; — no fol- 
lowers of the soothing theory, which would annihilate, for the sake 
of the peace of sinful men, the threaten ings and sanctions of the di- 
vine law; — and surely, here will be no followers of the inhuman 
scheme, embraced by the supporters of the ' domestic institution,' so 
called in our country, that because a stern and cruel despotism and 
slavery hav_e existed on the earth by the permission and under the 
providence of God, therefore, in the judgment of God, slavery is right 
and by his will is to be perpetual ; — as though the chains on the bo- 
dies and minds of three millions of human beings will not fall off, as 
soon as the precept of Christ is regarded by intelligent, noble minded, 
benevolent men, the masters of slaves in our Southern States, — "All 
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even 
so to them, for this is the law and the prophets." 

None of these and other schemes, theories, systems, hostile to God's 
truth, we may be confident, will remain. We know by the teaching 
of our Lord and Master, that men are to be " sanctified by the truth." 
In this way will our descendants, at the end of another hundred years, 
be a wiser, better, holier generation, than the present, if the influence 
of God's pure truth shall be continued and extended amongst us. For 
this end let us toil, while we can; — for this let us incessantly pray. — 
Let us think, whether our hopes of bringing great benefit to our de- 



43 

sccndants, who may live a hundred years hence, ought to rest on the 
shifting phases of political parties, which long ago were described as 
*' the madness of the many for the benefit of a few ; " — or on the 
wider diffusion of mere earthly science, or the cultivation of a refined 
literature, or the inventions of genius, and the advance of the arts of 
life, — since all these things, we know, may co-exist with deep relig- 
ious ignorance and the lowest depravity of. morals. We may have 
academies and institutes of science and art; — we may have innumer- 
able amusing and interesting lectures, concerts, and exhibitions ; — we 
may have huge repositories of books and paintings and sculptures ; — 
but, apart from God's truth and God's method of training men for vir- 
tue and for heaven, they will not light up the hopes of the future. 
Let us support, then, and strengthen and enlarge all the institutions 
for the advancement of heavenly truth, — for the training of the young 
in the paths of true goodness, — for the teaching and encouragement 
of the mature in life and of the old in their onward, upward course. 
Then may we hope, when another century shall come round, not only 
shall the glorious sun shine forth upon this valley, still more beauti- 
ful, than it is now, but the Sun of Righteousnes will shine upon a vil- 
lage of enlightened, wise, pure, and holy men. Yon mountain of 
beauty and majesty will still lift up its head in the morning sky ; — 
but it will look down upon our children better, happier than we! 
Yon broad river will still flow on ; but it will flow by a populous 
town, washed and purified from a debasing ignorance, from strange 
idolatrous delusion and impiety, from besotting intemperance, from 
the defilement of all criminal indulgences, from a narrow selfishness 
and pride, and from all injustice and dishonor. At that time, on that 
anniversary, let us hope and pray, that all the people by the reception 
of the truth and by the obedience of faith may be "a holy people 
unto God." 

Blessed will be the day, which is in sure prospect, when all the peo- 
ple of the earth shall become wise and holy. 

" scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, — 
Scenes of accomplisli'd bliss ! which who can see, 
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel 
His sou I refresh'd with foretaste of the joy ? 
Rivers of gladness water all the earth. 
And clothe all climes with beauty. ***** 
One song employs all nations; and all cry, 
' Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us! ' 
The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
From distant mountains catch the flying joy, 
Till, nation after nation taught the strain, 
Earth rolls the rapturous hoianna round." 



APPENDIX. 



The foregoing Address. — excepting a few omissions, made necessary by the 
limitation to two hours, — was delivered in the first church on the evening of 
Sunday Oct. 29, 1854. The order of the exercises was this: invocation and 
reading the scriptures by J. P. Hubbard, episcopal minister ; singing by the 
" Old Folks " of an original hymn ; prayer by J. P. Cleaveland, minister of 
the first church ; singing ; address ; prayer by G. Hall, congregational minis- 
ter; reading of letters from natives of the town, living at a distance, by G. G. 
Ingersoll, unitarian minister ; singing. — The communications from abroad were 
from Benjamin Tappan of Steubenville, Ohio, aged 81, John and Charles 
Tappan of Boston, — Lewis Tappan of Brooklyn, — and Charles Stoddard of 
Boston : — these were published in the Hampshire Gazette, Jan. 23, 1855. 

The head of the Tappan family in Northampton was Benjamin Tappan, a 
brother of Dr. David T., Professor of Divinity at Harvard College. His fath- 
er, Benjamin, minister of Manchester, was descended from Abraham of Bos- 
ton, Englaud. Mr. T. was at first a goldsmith, afterwards for many years a 
merchant. A patriot of the revolution, he was in 1779 on a committee with 
Caleb Strong, Dr. Shepherd, Abner Barnard, and Simeon Parsons for filling 
up the companies of Militia ; and he himself marched to repel the invasion of 
Burgoyne. He died Jan. 29, 1831, aged 83 ; and his wife, Sarah Homes, died 
March 26, 1826, aged 78. A memoir of her by L. T. was printed in 1834. 
Besides his four sons, whose letters are here referred to, there are now living 
his son Arthur of New York, not unknown in the history of anti-slavery, and 
William of Binghamton, and two daughters, widows of Col. Wm. Edwards of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., and of Rev. Dr. John Pierce of Brookline, Mass. The ages 
of these eight children of one family extend from 66 to 82 years, with an av- 
erage of 74 or 75 years. Their descendants are very numerous. — Judge 
Tappan emigrated, with an ox team and agricultural implements, to Ohio, by 
the way of Buffalo, in 1799. He himself cut down the first tree, which fell by the 
axe in the now flourishing village of Ravenna. A sketch of his life was pub- 
lished in the Democratic Review, when he was a Senator of the United States, 
written by Mr. Gilpin, Solicitor of the Treasury at Washington. 

Mr. Stoddard, who, like the writers of the other letters, had emigrated from 
this town forty or more years ago, is a descendant of the second minister, and 
the son of Solomon Stoddard, who is still living, aged nearly 84. 

NOTICES OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

George Alexander had a son Alexander in 1656, and died in 1703. 
From 1672 to 1698 there were sixteen children of John and Alexander. 

Samuel Allen, (written Allyn in the old records,) was the son of Samuel 
Allyn, who died at Windsor in 1648, and who is supposed to have been the 
brother of Matthew Allyn of Hartford and Windsor and of Thomas Allyn of 
Middletown. His lot was north of Mr. Woodford's, afterwards Jonathan Ed- 



46 

wards', in King street. lie married Hannah Woodford in 1G59 and died Oct. 
18, 1703. His children were ten, of whom Samuel, who died in 1739, was a 
deacon of the church in the time of Mr. Edwards. Deacon Samuel's son Jo- 
seph was the father of Thomas Allen, the first minister of Pittsfield, and of 
other sons, mentioned in the Address, of whom Solomon, minister of Brighton, 
N. Y., was the father of the wives of deacon Luther and deacon Enos Clark, 
now living, and of Phincas and Moses Allen of Pittsfield and New York. 
Among other descendants in Northampton are deacon Aaron Breck and Mo- 
ses Breck. 

A bequest of 133 pounds by Thomas Allen, who died in 1754, provided for 
the education of his grand nephew Thomas of Pittsfield ; and he also gave 
between 6 and 7 pounds " to promote the spread of the gospel among the 
heathenish natives of this province." In the same spirit his nephew, Joseph, 
left a tract of land in Southampton to the president of Dartmouth College ; ' to 
be expended in propagating the gospel among the Indians." 

Nehemiah Allen, son of Samuel of Windsor, married Sarah Woodford 
in 1664, and died in 1684. He had 9 children. Samuel removed to Deer- 
field in 1706 and thence to Coventry. His son Joseph, born in 1708 at Deer- 
field, married Mary Baker of Woodbury and was the father of Colonel Ethan 
Allen of Vermont. 

John Allen, son of Samuel of Windsor, married Mary Hannum, daugh- 
ter of William in 1669, removed to Deerfield where both were killed by the 
Indians in May, 1 704. His son John, born 1670, removed to Enfield, where his 
descendants now live: — Solomon is his great grandson, born of Solomon, the 
son of Ebenezer. 

Alexander Alvord came about 1658 and had sons Jeremiah and Eb- 
enezer. 

Edward Baker was here in 1655 ; — Joseph had sons Joseph and Samuel 
in 1665 and 1673 ; Timothy and Grace had sons Timothy, John, Thomas, and 
Edward from 1675 to 1685. — He was the ancestor of Osmyn Baker, late a 
member of Congress. 

Thomas Bascom came from the north of England about 1650. His wife 
was Mary Baldwin; he died Sept. 11, 1689. His grandson, Jonathan, who 
married Mindwell King and died in 1780 aged 74, was a first settler of South- 
ampton. Mary, sister of Jonathan, m. Noah Sheldon of S. 

James Bridgman's son James was born May 30, 1655, and died Jan. 14, 
1656, the first death. He himself died in 1676: Sarah, his wife, in 1667. 
His descendant, Thomas Bridgman, published Inscriptions on the Grave 
Stones of N. 1850; and subsequently several books of Inscriptions relating to 
cemeteries in Boston and elsewhere. 

David Burt was the son of Henry of Roxbury and Springfield. His de- 
scendant, deacon Samuel of Southampton, was the father of Rev. Sylvester 
Burt of Great Barrington, of Rev. Federal Burt of Durham, N. H., and of 
Rev. Jairus Burt of Canton, Conn. 

Preserved Clap, son of Capt. Roger Clap and Johanna Ford of Dor- 
chester, was born Nov. 23, 1643. He married Sarah Newberry of Windsor, 
was representative and ruling elder, and died Sept. 20, 1720, aged 76. 
Among his children were Preserved, Roger, and Thomas. Roger's son Sim- 
eon was the father of Simeon Clapp, a soldier of the revolution, who was at 
Saratoga, also of the guard of Major Andre at his execution, and died May 
31, 1851, aged 92. Martha, his wife, died Jan. 29, 1843, ag. 79. Warham, 
brother of Simeon, d. Oct. 7, 1852, aged 82 : Sophia, his wife, d. Nov. 2, 1846 ; 
she deserves honorable remembrance for giving a home for many years to the 



t J%rr& fcer 



47 

last Indian, Sally Maminash, a Christian woman, who died Jan. 3, 1853, aged 
88. Capt. Preserved Clap, b. 1676, m. Mehitabel Warner of Hatfield, d. Oct. 
11, 17.32: among his children were Roger, Preserved, John, Eliphaz, and Ez- 
ra. Roger's son Roger was a settler of Southampton. Eliphaz m. Rachel 
Parsons and had Naomi. Eliphaz, b. 1746, Elijah, and Mindwell. 

William Clark was of Dorchester in 1636, selectman in 1G57 ; removed 
to Northampton, and was one of the pillars oi the church in 1661. His son 
John, born in 1651, had six. sons, John, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Increase, Noah, 
Josiah, born from 1679 to 1697. They all lived in Elm street. The sons of 
John, Nathaniel, and Noah settled in .Southampton. Ebenezer died in 1781, 
aged 99: his sou, William, died in 1807, aged 87. Next, William, the son of 
the last, died in 1842, aged 78, the father of William Clark, now living. — In- 
crease Clark had six sons, Daniel, Elijah, Moses, Simeon, Noah, Josiah. — 
1. Daniel died Dec. -J*;, 1804, aged 92: his son was deacon Solomon Clark, 
and his grandson was the late Allen Clark. 2. Elijah, deacon, died in 1791, 
aged 60: he was the lather of deacons Luther and Enos Clark, now living, the 
former nearly 88. 3. Moses had fourteen children, one of whom was deacon 
Israel, who died Oct. 22, 1851, aged 86. 

Dr. Dwight says as to John Clark, the son of William, that of his ten chil- 
dren four lived to be above 9o years, three above 80, and three above 70: 
and that his descendants, — when his son Ebenezer died in 1781, aged 98, — 
amounted to 1145. 

Aaron Cook, major, married a daughter of T. Ford. He was early at 
Dorchester; at Windsor in 1 (J40 ; at Northampton in 1661. He died Sept. 
5. L690, aged 80. His son, Capt. Aaron, m. Sarah Westwood of Hartford in 
1661 ; and his son, Lieut. Westwood Cook, was the father of Noah Cook of 
Hadley, who m. first Ann Cook and next Keziah Parsons of Northampton : 
he was the father of Rev. William C. of Sudbury. The last was the father of 
Rev. Samuel C. of West Cambridge, who died 1784 and whose wife was the 
sister of John Hancock. Noah Cook and Keziah Parsons were the ancestors 
of Rev. Dr. Parsons Cook of Lynn, son of Solomon. From him also descended 
Noah Cook, late of Keene, and Josiah P. Cook of Boston : — Rev. Phineas 
Cook late of Lebanon and his son Rev. George Cook : — Rev. Amos of Ber- 
nardston, and Rev. Theodore of Northampton. 

Robert Daxks married Elizabeth, the widow of John Webb, who began 
in 1665 the settlement in Nashawaunuck, now in Easthampton, and died in 
1692. His descendent, Samuel, settled in Southamptou. — Danks' pond may 
be named from him. 

Alexander Edwards came from Wales and lived in Northampton from 
1655 to 1690. He married Mary Baldwin, widow of John Searl who died in 
Springfield in 1642. From him descended two eminent men, the late Profes- 
sor Bela Bates Edwards, and Dr. Justin Edwards of Andover. Both descend- 
ed from Alexander's grandson Samuel, who died in 1749. The son of this 
Samuel, named Samuel, the grandfather of Dr. B. B. Edwards, a soldier in 
1745, removed to Southampton in 1753, where he was a deacon, and died in 
1784. Elisha, his son, also a deacon from 1790 till his death in 1832, was the 
father of Dr. Bela B. E., who d. April 20, 1852, aged 49, and whose memoirs 
by Dr. Park and valuable writings are well known. — Dr. Justin Edwards, 
whose labors in the cause of temperance and the Sabbath are also well known, 
was born in Westhampton and died in 1853. His memoirs will soon be pub- 
lished. 

Thomas Ford arrived in the ship with Mr. Warham of Dorchester in 
1630 : he removed to Windsor, and thence to Northampton in 1661 or before. 
He died Nov. 9, 1676. He had four daughters: Abigail married elder John 



I 



48 

Strong at Dorchester in 1630 : Johanna, b. June 8, 1617, married Capt. Roger 
Clap of Dorchester Nov. 6, 1633, in her 17th year; Hepzibah married Richard 
Lyman and another married Capt. A. Cook. 

William H annum came from Windsor: he died in 1677. His son John 
had thirteen children ; his grandson John was the father of Eleazer of South- 
ampton. 

Joseph Hawley, a graduate of 1674, a representative, lived here as early 
as 1678, and died in 1711. His son Lieut. Joseph was born in 1682 and died 
June 1, 1735, aged 53: other sons were Samuel, Thomas, Ebenezer. His wife 
Lydia d. 1 732, aged 75. Joseph married Rebekah Stoddard, daughter of Rev. 
S. S., and was the father of the eminent Joseph Hawley, who died in 1788. 

William Holton was one of the Springfield petitioners and one of the 
earliest settlers ; a deacon of the church from 1663 to his death in 1691. The 
first marriages were of his daughters Man - to David Burt in 1654 and Sarah 
to John King in 1656. — John Holton lived here as early as 1668 and died in 
1689. — A Thomas Holton was killed by the Indians in their attack March 14, 
1676, when they broke through the palisades at the lower end of Pleasant 
street, setting fire to several houses and barns. Others killed at the same time 
were Robert Bartlett, Mary Earle, and two soldiers belonging to a company, 
which had arrived the evening before. 

William Hulbert was at Dorchester in 1635, at Windsor in 1640 ; he 
married Ann, the widow of Samuel Allen, and removed to Northampton. She 
died in 1687 and he in 1694. John and William were his sons. Martin Lu- 
ther Hurlbut. a native of Southampton, a graduate of Williams College 1804, 
was a descendant, — whose son, William Henry Hurlbut, a graduate of Har- 
vard 1847, is the author of Gan Eden or Pictures of Cuba. 

Jonathan Hunt by his wife Clement had sons Jonathan, Thomas, John, 
Ebenezer; daughters Hannah, Mary. He was here as early as 1662; and 
was deacon from 1680 to his death in 1691. 

John Ingersoll married Abigail Bascom Dec. 2, 1657. He removed to 
Warronoco or WestfieKl, of which town the late deacon Jonathan Ingersoll of 
Stockbridge was a native. 

William Janes was recorder of lands for twenty years, Medad Pomeroy 
being town recorder or town clerk : most of the early records were by these 
men. He was a school teacher and bore the honorable title of Mr., as did his 
fellow teachers, James Cornish and Joseph Hawley, the ministers Mather and 
Stoddard, and William Clark and Joseph Parsons. 

Thomas Judd, deacon, went to Hartford in 1636 and thence to Farming- 
ton. He came to Northampton about 1680 and married, as his second wife, 
the widow of Thomas Mason. He died Nov. 12, 1686, aged 80 or more. All 
of the name in New England descended from him. Jonathan Judd, the first 
minister of Southampton, was his descendant of the fifth generation, — leaving 
seven children, one of whom, Sylvester Judd of Westhampton, died in 1832, 
aged nearly 80, the father of Sylvester Judd now of Northampton. 

John King came from Northampton England. He married Sarah Holton 
in 1656 and was an early member of the church. His sons were John, Josejm, 
Ebenezer; he had a daughter Sarah. His descendants are chiefly in South- 
ampton. His grandson Joseph was accidentally killed, while hunting, by 
Samuel Burt. 

Enos Kingsley lived in Northampton in 1668. He came from Dorches- 
ter, and was the son of John. His grandson Ebenezer was a settler of South- 
ampton, — clerk and school teacher. In the first half century there were forty 
children of the name. 



49 

David Lee was the son of John Lee and Mary Hart, who lived in Farm- 
ington in 1(353: he settled in Northampton and married in 1695 Lydia Strong, 
daughter of Jedidiah Strong and Freedom Woodward, — grand daughter of 
elder John S. and Abigail Ford. lie removed to Coventry, probably in 1709; 
and there his sou Jonathan Lee was horn, who was the first minister of Salis- 
bury, the father of a large family, one of which married T. Allen, the first min- 
ister of Pittsfield ; — another was the late Chauncey Lee, D. D., of Colebrook, 
and Marlborough ; — another was the father of Dr. Charles A. Lee of New 
York. 

Richard Lyman was the. son of Richard, who came to Massachusetts in 
1633 and was of Roxbury in 1635 and died at Hartford in 1(340. He was in 
Northampton as early as 1658, and died June 3, 1662 : in the preceding year 
he became a member of the church, then founded. His wife was H. Ford. 
The line of his descendants to Dr. Joseph Lyman of Hatfield, who died in 
1828, was as follows — Richard, Richard, Jonathan, Jonathan. Dr. L.'s sou 
was the late Jonathan H. Lyman, of Northampton, whose children arc S. L. 
Hinckley, Dr. G. H. Lyman, and Mrs. (Rev. Charles) Mason of Boston, and 
and others in Philadelphia and Northampton. — It may be well supposed, that 
many of the name remain in N., as in the first half century the children of the 
name here born were seventy in number. He was recorder of the proprietors 
of Nonotuck from 1654 to 1657. 

John Lyman, brother of Richard, was in N. in 1658. He married first 
Dorcas Plum : his second wife, it is believed, was a daughter of Rev. Mr. Huit 
of Windsor. His son Moses was born in 1662; his grandson, Moses, born in 
1689, married Mindwell Sheldon, and was the father of Rev. Isaac Lyman of 
York, who was the father of Theodore Lyman of Waltham and grand father 
of Theodore, late mayor of Boston. 

Elias Lyrnan, a brother of Isaac, born in 1715, married Hannah Allen, sis- 
ter of Joseph, and died in 1790. His daughter Mindwell married Dr. Sylves- 
ter Woodbridge of Southampton, the father of John Woodbridge D. D. of 
Hadley. — His son Elias Lyman, who died in 181(3, was the father of Justin of 
Hartford, of Elias of White River, Vt., and of Asahel of Northampton, now 
79 years old. 

Robert Lyman, the brother of John, married in 1662 Hcpzibah Bascom. — 
From one of the three brothers descended Gen. Phineas Lyman and several 
ministers of Connecticut. 

ELEAZER Mather, the first minister, had two sons, Warham, born 1666, 
and Eliakim. Dr. Samuel Mather died in 17 79 ; Dr. William in 1775, aged 
32 ; Dr. Warham in 1813, aged 49; Dr. Elisha in 1841. 

William Miller had eight children. John was killed by the Indians 
in 1676. 

Joseph Parsoxs married Mary Bliss at Windsor Nov. 6, 1646. His son 
Joseph was born in 1647 and died in f 729, aged 82 : his wife was Elizabeth, 
daughter of Elder Strong. He had other sons, Ebenezer, born in Northamp- 
ton May 1, 1655, Jonathan, and David; also Hannah, Mary, Abigail, and 
Hester: and himself died at Springfield March 25, 1684. Joseph, the sec- 
ond's, children were Joseph, b. 1(372, James, Ebenezer, David, Josiah, Daniel, 
and Moses. — Noah Parsons was born in 1692, married Mindwell Edwards, 
daughter of Benjamin, Jan. 17, 1712, and died Oct. 27, 1779, aged 87. He 
had 12 children, 215 descendants: first a son; — then Jemima whom. Samuel 
Kingsley 1739 ;— -Elizabeth in. Joseph Allen 1733 and died 1810, aged 84 ; — 
Mindwell, who m. Simeon King, 1737 ; — Rachel m. Eliphaz Clap ; — Thankful 
m. Ebenezer Ashley and John Dean ;— Mary m. Wm. Bartlett ;— Keziah m. 

7 



50 

Aaron Cook; — Noah, whom. Phebe Bartlett 1752, and died Jan. 11, 1814, 
aged 84 : his wife was in 1737 the child spoken of by Mr. Edwards in his ac- 
count of the revival, and she d. Jan. 5, 1805 ; — Margaret, m. Phineas Ashley 
and Joseph Hutchins ; — Miriam m. Azariah Moseley 1762 ; — Timothy d. Feb. 
2, 1822. — Mrs. Elizabeth (Parsons) Allen, who died Jan. 9, 1800, the mother 
of Jonathan, &c. (p-24,) is mentioned in the church records as eminently pious, 
and as having assisted at the birth of three thousand children. David Par- 
sons, D. D., of Amherst, ordained 1782, d. 1823, was a descendant of Joseph, 
by Joseph and Elizabeth Strong. Of other descendants of the name twelve 
or fifteen have been ministers, among whom are Isaac Parsons of East Had- 
dam and his son Henry M. recently settled in Springfield. 

Nathaniel Phelps had a son William in June 1655, from whom and from 
Nathaniel were in subsequent years many descendants. 

Eldad Pomeroy died May 22, 1662, the son of Eltweed of Dorchester 
and Windsor. His son deacon Medad married 1, Experience Woodward in 
1661, and 2, Abigail Chauncey in 1686, widow of Rev. Mr. Chauncey of Hat- 
field and daughter of elder Strong. He died Dec. §0, 1716. He had ten or 
more children. His son, by his first wife, Ebenczer, had several children, 
one of whom was Seth. The five sons of Seth were 1, Quartus; — 2, Asahel, 
the father of Miss Polly Pomeroy ; — 3, Lemuel, the father of the late Lemuel 
of Pittsfield, of Gamaliel of Southampton, and of Theodore, a physician in 
Utica ; — 4, Seth, father of Rev. J. L. Pomeroy of Worthington ; — 5, Medad a 
physician in Warwick. 

Jonx Pynchon deserves to be remembered on account of his relation to 
Northampton. The settlement of Nonotuck is probably more indebted to him 
than to any other person. He was the son of Wm. Pynchon, who with oth- 
ers commenced the settlement of Springfield in 1636, but who, having incur- 
red the displeasure of the General Court by his book on the ' Price of Man's 
Redemption,' returned to England with his minister, Mr. Moxon, in 1652 ; 
but his son John remained behind, then about twenty-five years old. After a 
long life, employed in useful public service, Colonel Pynchon died Jan. 1 7, 
1703, aged 76. His wife was Amy, daughter of Gov. George Wyllys. Mr. 
Stoddard's sermon on his death was published. Many of his descendants have 
lived in Springfield and Brimfield. 

Thomas Root came from Hartford; he died April 17, 1694. He had 
sons Thomas and Samuel. His descendants are in Southampton and in other 
towns. The births of this name in the first half century were about sixty. 

JonN Seakl was the son of John who died in Springfield in 1642. He 
"was at N. soon after 1658 : his mother married A. Edwards. His great grand 
son Nathaniel was a settler of Southampton, where his descendants are nu- 
merous. His nephew, Rev. John S., graduated at Yale in 1745 and d. 1787. 
David S. was a graduate of Dartmouth in 1 784. — John Searl and three chil- 
dren were killed by the Indians at Paskhomuck May 13, 1704. His son Eli- 
sha, carried ciptive, returned from Canada after some years. 

Isaac Sheldon sailed from Plymouth, England. He was at Dorchester 
in 1634, and at Windsor in 1640. His son Isaac was born at Northampton 
Sept. 4, 1656 ; and by his wife Mary he had fourteen other children. The 
liberality of his descendant, Silas Sheldon of Southampton, ought to be re- 
membered. By hard labor on a poor farm he acquired his property. He ed- 
ucated several adopted children, — founded Sheldon Academy by a gift of 2 
or 3,000 dollars : gave 1,000 to the Hampshire Education Society, and 1,000 
to Amherst College. 



51 

Jonx Stebbixs was the son of Rowland Stebbins, who came from the west 
of England with his sons John and Thomas about 1666 and settled in Spring- 
field. John removed to Northampton, as early as 1658 : and there his father 
died Dec. 14, 1671, aged 77. John was an early member of the church. 
Thomas lived in Springfield and died in 1688 : his descendants in four suc- 
cessive generations bore the name of Joseph, of whom the host died in Spring- 
field in 1819, aged 82, and was the father of Dr. Daniel Stebbins living in 
Northampton, born April 2, 1766, who entered upon his 90th year April 2, 
1855. 

Solomox Stoddard, p. 16. Professor Solomon Stoddard of Middlebury 
College was his descendant. A graduate of Yale in 1826, he died at North- 
ampton Nov. 11, 1847, aged 47. His mother, Sarah Tappan, died April 27, 
1852, aged 80 : his father is still among the living. — He and Prof. Andrews 
published a valuable Latin grammar. 

Johx Stroxg, elder. In addition to p. 13, it may be stated, that among 
his descendants were the following, — Jon Stroxg, a graduate of Yale in 
1 747, joined as a missionary J. Brainerd at Bethel in 1 748. A letter of his is 
printed in Brainerd's Lite, p. 303. He says thirty of the Indian children 
could answer all the questions in the Assembly's Catechism. He was ordained 
minister of Portsmouth in 1749 : but died in 1751, aged about 27. 

Nehemiah Stroxg, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in 
Yale College, graduated in 1755, and died in 1807. He heaixl Edwards 
preach the sermons constituting his History of Redemption. Simeox Stroxg, 
LL. D., Judge of the Supreme Court, was born in N. in 1735; graduated at 
Yale in 1756. He died at Hadley Dec. 14, 1805, aged 69. Joseph Stroxg, 
D. D., died at Norwich, Conn., Dec. 18, 1834, aged 80 : and his son Hexry 
Stroxg, LL. D., died at Norwich Nov. 11, 1852, aged 64. Caleb Stroxg, 
minister of Montreal, a graduate of Yale in 1835, died Jan. 4, 1847 : — he was 
the son of Lewis and grandson of Governor Caleb Strong. 

Thomas AVoodford was of Springfield in 1636, and of Hartford in 1639, 
where in 1645 he was collector of funds for the students at Cambridge. He 
married Mary, the daughter of Robert Blott of Boston. He Avas of North- 
ampton from 1658 till his death in 1667. He lived on the lot afterwards oc- 
cupied by Jonathan Edwards, now by J. D. Whitney. His daughter Mary 
married Isaac Sheldon ; Hannah m. Samuel Allen ; and Sarah m. Nehemiah 
Allen. 

Samuel Wright died in 1665: he had been a deacon in Sj>ringfield. 
His son Samuel was also a first settler. The late Governor Silas Wright of 
New York State was a descendant. In the first half century there is a record 
of the birth of about eighty children of the name of Wright. The race, it may 
be supposed, is not extinct. A few years ago twenty-five or thirty of the 
name were members of the church. 

LIBERAL ACT REFERRED TO, p. 34. 

Elisha Alvord gave a deed Oct. 6, 176 7 of a lot in the centre of Northamp- 
ton "To the Inhabitants of the County of Hampshire," in consideration of one 
hundred and thirty pounds paid by Ebenezer Hunt, Timothy Dwight, Jr., 
Seth Pomeroy, Caleb Strong, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Clark, Ephraim 
Wright, William Lyman, Seth Lyman, John King, Samuel Parsons, Jonathan 
Allen, Selah Wright, Joseph Allen, Joseph Cook, Joseph Lyman, Benj. Shel- 
don, Jr., Quartus Pomeroy, Elisha Lyman, Gideon Clark, John Hodge, Hez- 
ekiah Russell, Thomas Bridgman, Elijah Southwell, Asahel Clapp, Abner 
Barnard, Daniel Hitchcock, Wm. Mather, Levi Shepherd, Eliphaz Strong, 



c 



52 

Sctli Clapp, Elnalhan Wright, Joseph Parsons, Haines Kingslcy, Timothy 
Parsons, Anson and Enos Kingsley, Asa Wright, Josiah Parsons, Jr., Titus 
King, Oliver Lyman, Elihu Lyman, Elkanah Burt, Ebenezer Clapp, Elihu 
Clark, Plinv Pomeroy, Abijah Wait, John Parsons, Jr., Simeon and Jos. 
Clapp, Joseph Hutchins, Lemuel Lyman, David Lyman, Elias Lyman, Jr., 
and Asahel Danks of Northampton, and Samuel Fairfield of Hatfield: "gen- 
erous subscribers of the consideration above mentioned for the purchase of the 
premises hereinafter described for the public use of erecting a Court House 
thereon for the sole use and benefit of the Inhabitants of the County of Hamp- 
shire." — The same to be held " to the proper use of the Inhabitants of the said 
County of Hampshire in succession and for the term of and so long as courts 
are and shall be held by law in said town of Northampton for the purpose of 
a Green or Common and for the erecting of a Court House or Court Houses 
thereon, as shall be ordered by the proper authority for the setting up and 
erecting the same : — and whensoever that term shall cease and determine, and 
the courts are removed and shall be held at some other town or place pursu- 
ant to law, which arc now held there, that then the same shall be and remain 
as an open, uninclosed Common, for the use and benefit of the Inhabitants of 
the said town of Northampton in succession forever for erecting any meeting 
house for public worship or town house for town affairs or meetings and for 
no other purpose whatever." 

On the lot thus purchased and thus given to the Inhabitants of the county 
there is now standing an old town hall, between the court house and the pub- 
lic high road, respecting which old building the County Commissioners, at 
their session in June 1853, passed the following order: — "It is now ordered 
by the county commissioners, that the license heretofore granted to the town 
of Northampton to erect a town hall upon the county lands in said town be 
and the same is hereby revoked — and that the said town be ordered to re- 
move the said town hall from said lauds within two months from June lGth, 
A. D. 1853." »■' 



SLAVERY, p. 42. 

It is a fact, which need not be corlteealed, that president Edwards was a 
slaveholder, as were also Mr. Stoddard'and many good men in New England, 
who lived before the discussions concerning liberty and human rights at the 
period of the American Revolution. Mr. E.'s first slave was Rose, who prob- 
ably was given as a servant to his wife at the time of his marriage ; but she 
was at last a free woman, and her husband was Joab a tanner and freeman at 
Stockbridge. She was the mother of Titus and Tamar : the daughter was 
free, but Titus was a slave. In the appraisal of Mr. E.'s estate in 1 759, " a 
negro boy, named Titus," is estimated at thirty pounds. Even he, however, 
was afterwards free and lived on the Van Schaack estate in Pittsfield. In the 
course of time Timothy Edwards of Stockbridge, the sou of the president, 
gave to Titus a farm at Tioga, were he died. 

If the father was a slaveholder, the son, Dr. Jonathan Edwards of New Ha- 
ven, who lived through the revolution, was among the earliest and the boldest 
to assert the rights of human nature. He preached a sermon in 1791 on the 
Injustice of the Slave Trade and Slavery, in which he says, " To hold a slave, 
who has a right to his liberty, is not only a real crime, but a very great one. 
You will not deny, that liberty is more valuable than property ; and that it is 
a greater sin to deprive a man of his whole liberty during his life, than to de- 
prive him of his whole property ; or that man-stealing is a greater crime than 
robbery. Nor will you deny, that to hold in slavery a man, who was stolen, 
is substantially the same crime, as to steal him." " But methinks I hear some 



53 

say, I have bought my negro ; I have paid a large sum for him ; I cannot lose 
this sum, and therefore I cannot manumit him. Alas ! this is hitting the nail 
on the head. This brings into view the true cause, which makes it so difficult 
to convince men of what is right in this case." As to the common objection, 
so acceptable to the consciences of slaveholders, that to liberate the slaves 
would be unsafe to society, he answers, that it has been found otherwise ; that 
the time and method of bestowing freedom could be regulated by law, and that 
various measures of security could be adopted ; that a sense of gratitude 
would tend more than the indignant feeling of oppression to the public safety; 
and that, after all, the claims ot duty are not to be turned aside by the fear of 
harm in consequence of doing right. When this sermon was preached, two 
States had totally abolished slavery ; and Dr. E. had such confidence in the 
progress of light, that he ventured this prediction — "if we judge of the future 
by the past, within fifty years from this time it will be as shameful for a man to 
hold a negro slave, as to be guilty of common robbery or theft." Though fifty 
years have passed, the day of universal freedom in, America has not arrived ; 
yet it will come, as certainly as the principles of the gospel are destined to 
triumph. 

Our southern presbyterian brethren, who deem it right to hold slaves, 
would do Avell to ponder the words of the General Assembly of their church in 
1818, — still authoritative — " We consider the voluntary enslaving of one part 
of the human race by another as a gross violation of the most precious and sa- 
cred rights of human nature ; as utterly inconsistent with the law of God, 
which requires us to love our iieighbor as ourselves; and as totally irrecon- 
cilable with the spirit and principles of the gospel of Christ, which enjoin, that 
" all things whatsoever ye, would, that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
them." 

NUMBER OF INHABITANTS. 

In 1662 about 300; in 1679 perhaps 600; in 1790 only 1628 ; in 1800— 
2190; in 1810—2631; in 1820—2854; in 1830—3613; in 1840—3750; in 
1850—5278. 

The incorporation of three other towns from old Northampton and the emi- 
grations to the west are to be taken into view. 



ADMISSIONS TO THE CHURCn. 



The first 18 years, 76 

Mr. Stoddardys ministry, 56 y'rs, 630 



Mr. Edwards' 
Mr. Hooker's 
Mr. Williams' 



23 
23 

46 



495 
409 
921 



Dr. Tucker's ministry, 3 y'rs, 222 

Dr. Spencer's, " 3 " 236 

Dr. Penney's " 2 " 108 

Dr. Wiley's " 7 " 145 

Mr. Swift's " 6 " 1 08 



3350 
There being no record of some years, the number received into the first 
church may be reckoned at 3400 or 3500. 



REVIVAL!?: REMARKABLE CnURCH HARVESTS. 

Under Mr. Stoddard's ministry in the years 1679, 1683, 1690, 1712, 1718. 
Under Mr. Edwards in 1727, 1734,1735, 1740, 1741. Under Mr. Hooker in 
1754, 1756, 1762, 1763, 1770, 1774. Under Mr. Williams in 1779, 1782, 
1789, 17:io, L800, 1806, 1807, 1816, especially 1819 ; under Mr. Tucker in 
1825, 1826, 1827; under Mr. Spencer in 1830, 1831; under Mr. Penney in 
1834 ; under Mr. AViley in 1840 and 1842.— The largest numbers added to the 



54 

church in any one year since the time of Mr. Edwards were 49 in 1754, 65 
in 1762, 55 in 1763, 35 in 1770, 55 in 1779, 48 in 1789, 88 in 1806, 72 in 
1816, 177 in 1819, 117 in 1826, 164 in 1831, 96 in 1834, 46 in 1840, 44 in 
1842. The number of living members was 76 in 1677, 96 in 1706, 620 in 
1736, 728 in 1832; in this year many were dismissed in order to constitute 
the Edwards church; — there were 515 in 1843. 

CHURCHES AND MINISTERS. 

The primitive church was founded in 1661. The ministers have been ag 
follows : 

E. Mather, 1658—1669 M. Tucker, D. D., 1824—1827 

S.Stoddard, 1672—1729 I. S. Spencer, D. D., 1828—1832? 

J.Edwards, 1727—1750 J. Penney, D. D., 1833— 183& 

J.Hooker, 1754—1777 C. Wiley, D. D., 1837—1845- 

S. Williams, 1778—1834 E.Y.Swift, 1845—1852 

J. P. Cleaveland, D. D., 1853— 

Dr. Spencer of Brooklyn has died since this Address was delivered. The 
other ministers in the last column are yet among the living. 

1825. — The Unitarian church formed. The ministers have been E. B. Hall, 
O. Stearns, J. S. Dwight, R. Ellis, W. Silsbee. 

1826. — The Episcopal church formed. The ministers, G. Griswold, J. 
Muenscher, W. Chaderton, D. Devens, O. Clark, H. Burroughs, J. P. Hub- 
bard. 

1828. — The Baptist church formed. The pastors, B. Willard, A. Brown r 
W. M. Doolittle, H. D. Doolittle, D. M. Crane. 

1832.— The Edwards church formed. The pastors, J. Todd, D. D., J. 
Mitchell, E. P. Rogers, D. D., G. E. Day, D. D., G. Hall. 

1843. — Methodist Episcopal church organized. The ministers, W. Ward, 
M. Dwight, W. B. BagnaU, C. Baker, J. M. Mowry, T. Marcy, D. Waite, W. 
C. High. 

1845. — About this time a Catholic church was built. 

DEATHS, 

At the age of 90 and upwards in the last half-century : 

Deceased. Age. Deceased. Age.- 

1804. Wid. Rebecca Phelps, 93 1841. Mrs. Catharine Gleason, 90 

" Daniel Clark, 92 " Reuben Pelton, 92 

1806. Wid. Sarah Baker, 98 1842. Mary Wyer, 93 

1809. Wid. Mary Rust, 95 « Phgbe Clark, 9S 

1812. Wid. Hannah Wright, 98 1844. Gershom Randall, 97 

1813. Wid. Jemima Warner, 91 " Wid. Olive Dickinson, 90 
" Wid. Hannah Clark, 95 1846. Elisabeth Earle, 90 

1815. Mrs. Elis. Edwards, 90 1849. Wid. Sarah French, 90 

" Wid. Esther Wright, 93 1851. Wid. Eunice Wright, 98 

1827. Solomon Stoddard, 91 " Simeon Clapp, 92 

1834. Sam. Bakeman, (black,) 101 1853. Jacob Osborn, 92 

1839. Mrs. Martha Wright, ' 94 1854. Wid. Elisabeth Wright, 98 

" Mrs. Barley, 95 

About one hundred and forty persons have died since 1800 aged between 
80 and 90 years. Widow Abigail Phelps Alvord d. Aug. 26, 1756, aged 102. 
Peter Princely still lives, aged 108. 



55 



A few Deaths, within the last half century : 



1805. Dr. Levi Shepherd, 62 

1807. Capt. Sam. Clark, 8(! 

1808. Maj. Daniel Pomeroy, 78 
Capt. Ebenezer Lane, GO 
Dea. Josiah Clark, 87 

1809. Judge Samuel Henshaw, 64 

1812. Capt. Simeon Clapp, 83 

1813. Dr. Warham Mather, 49 
Noah Parsons, 84 

1816. Elias Lyman, 75 
Col. C. Chapman, 44 

1817. Mrs. Sarah Strong, 60 
Mrs. Sarah Hooker, 86 
Nathaniel Fowle, 68 

1819. Gov. Caleb Strong, 74 

Eli P. Ashmun, Sen. U. S. 48 

Dr. Ebenezer Hunt, 76 

1821. Maj. Josiah Dwight, 53 

1824. Capt. James Dickinson, 44 

1825. Jonathan H. Lvman, 42 

1827. Solomon Stoddard, 91 
Col. John Breck, 56 

1828. Judiie Samuel Howe, 43 
Seth Wright, 73 

1829. Elijah H.Mills, Sen. U. S. 52 

1830. Levi Lyman, 67 

1831. Wm. Butler, first Ed. Gaz. 67 

1833. Asahel Pomeroy, 83 
Daniel Butler, 65 
Maj. Erastus Lyman, 73 

1834. Rev. Solomon Williams, 82 
1837. Samuel Clark, 79 

Dr. David Hunt, 64 

1839. Nathan Storrs, 71 



1840. 



1841, 
1842 



1843. 



1844. 



David S. Whitney, 52 

Judge Samuel Hinckley. 83 

Dr. Elisha Mather, 53 

John Hopkins, 72 

Mrs. Mary Williams, 85 

Mrs. Lvdia Hopkins, 69 

Mrs. Ruth Tenney, 60 

Mrs. Martha Henshaw, 87 

Charles Starkweather, 84 

Thomas W. Shepherd, 49 

Charles C. Nichols, 59 

1845. James Bull, 67 

Margarette Dwight, 41 

Bohan Clark, 74 

Isaac C. Bates, Sen. U. S. 65 

Mrs. Catharine Shepherd, 62 

Thomas Shepherd, 67 

1847. Samuel Plant, 69 

Caleb J. Tenney, D. D., 67 

Geo. W. Talbot, 72 

Simeon Butler, 77 

Judge Joseph Lyman, 80 

Wid. Esther Clark, 88 

Mrs. Sarah J. Allen, 58 

Dr. Charles L. Seegur, 85 

Col. Elisha Strong, 73 

Wid. Lucy Sage, 82 

1850. Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, 63 

1851. Mrs.SarahTappanStoddard, 80 

82 
56 

1853. Oliver Warner, 73 

1854. Mrs. Sarah D. S. Walker, 46 

1855. Dr. Charles Walker, 52 



1848. 



1849. 



Warham Clapp, 
Sylvester Graham, 
Oliver Warner, 
Mrs. Sarah D. S. Walker, 
Dr. Charles Walker, 



The whole number of deaths on the records of Northampton is about 5300 ; 
births, 4100 ; marriages, 1700. 

THE MOHEGAN LANGUAGE, p. 10. 

Dr. Jonathan Edwards, who was perfectly acquainted with the language of 
the Stockbridge or Housatonnuk Indians, called the Mohegan, and who ex- 
amined its affinity to many of the northern languages of our country, and, find- 
ing them all — excepting that of the Mohawks or five nations — to be of a com- 
mon stock, has proposed the Mohegan as the general name. This is better, 
perhaps, than any other name, which has been proposed ; better than the Al- 
gonkin of La Hontan, the Leni-Lenape or Delaware of Heckewelder, the Chip- 
peway-Delaware or Algonkin-Mohegan of Adelung, the Algonkin-Lenape of 
Gallatin, and the Algic of Schoolcraft. When Hudson discovered the North 
River, its banks were inhabited by the Mohicans or Mohegans, thus occupying 
the central, principal river of our country ; and thence probably they spread 
over New England. The Indians of Stockbridge and New London were 
called expressly Mohegans. With one radical language there are many dia- 
lects, or languages, the best known of which are the Stockbridge, the Dela- 
ware, the Narragansett, the Massachusetts or Natick, in which Eliot's Bible is 
printed, the Norridgewock, and the Penobscot. 



56 

The Indian names of places wci-e expressive ; but we know the meaning of 
but few of them. Mississippi means great river, from missi, great, and sippi, 
river. Connecticut, Quinnehticot, means long river, from quinneh, long, high, 
rapid. Quinnebaug means long water: mashapaug, great pond. Massachu- 
setts means high mountain, from missi, mussi, mahsag, great, and wadchu, 
mountain, — referring to the Blue Hills of Milton, in sight of which the Indians 
of Massachusetts Bay lived. As the plural was formed by adding og, ock,ug, 
uk or uck, the Indian people at the Bay were denoted by the word Massachu- 
seuk, which the English expressed by ' the Massachuseuks ' or the Massa- 
chetts. 

The letters 1, m, n, and r, were interchanged by different tribes. The New 
Haven and Windsor Indians used r, the Nallwottoge and Nipmuck Indians 
used 1 ; and so the Japanese pronounce r, where the Chinese proncunce 1. 
But neither 1 nor r appear in the Stoekbridge and Narragansett. 

The following are a few words, which are the same or very much alike in 
different Indian dialects. — House is wigwam, or weekwam, or wikiwaum in Mo- 
hegan, Norridgewock, Penobscot, Algonkin, Delaware, Chippewa, and other 
languages. — River is seepoo, sepu, seip, secboo, seepee, sipi in Mohegan, Na- 
tick, Narragansett, Norridgewock, Penobscot, Delaware, Chippewa, Algon- 
kin. — Mountain is w'chu, wadchu, wudju, wauchchoo, in Mohegan, Natick, 
Penobscot, Delaware, Chippewa. — Shoe is m'kissin, mokasin, mukkaysen, 
mauxen in Mohegan, Penobscot, Algonkin, Chippewa, Delaware. — The sun 
is keesogh, kesoos, kissis, in Mohegan, Norridgewock, St. Francis, Penobscot, 
Chippewa. In Natick kesuk means heaven. — Winter is h'poon, papoon, pe- 
poon, papone in Mohegan, Natick, Narragansett, Norridgewock, Penobscot, 
Chippewa. — Water is nbey, nippee, nip, nabee, nipi, nepee, nippee in Mohe- 
gan, Natick, Narragansett, Norridgewock, Penobscot, St. Francis, Algonkin, 
Chippewa. — A bear is mquoh, macqua, mauquah, mukquaw in Mohegan, Al- 
e;onqin, Chippewa, Shawnese. — Devil is mtandou, mannito, mattannit, machi- 
hando, matcheemanitoo in Mohegan, Natick, Penobscot, Algonkin, Chippewa, 
Delaware. — Wood is metooque in Mohegan, mehtug in Natick, rneteek, in Al- 
gonkin, Chippewa. — A girl ! s peesquasoo in Mohegan, squasese in Narragan- 
sett, nunksqua in Natick, Penobscot, and Norridgewock. — A spirit is mannito, 
manitou in Mohegan, Algonkin, Chippewa. — God in Narragansett is manit- 
too. 

JENNY LIND. 

She was a benefactor of Northampton. After a residence of some months 
at Round Hill and after her marriage to Mr. Goldschmidt she gave in 1852 a 
concert in the town hall, the avails of which she beneficently appropriated, be- 
stowing about seven hundred dollars upon the Young Men's Institute for the 
purchase of Books for their library, and the remainder, two or three hundred^ 
dollars, she authorized the writer of this to distribute in certain charities. _ If 
she was sincere in her confidential words to him — " I know, that our Savior 
is the only hope for resurrection, forgiveness of sins, and the only way to life 
and heaven. I am a poor, poor sinner — bad and wicked and in the dust — 
but He can help all evil, and his power is greater than my sins. I feel my 
nothingness — but, at the same time, I feel my faith increasing, the more my 
conviction of sin increases. My English is bad and unclear, but my belief in 
the Holy Gospel is clear as very clear water. — God help and bless us all, and 
impart to us his Holy Ghost : " — if thus, in a private note of "Jenny Gold- 
schmidt," she uttered, as there is no reason to doubt, the sentiments of her 
heart, this utterance may well give a sweeter satisfaction, than the enjoyment 
and remembrance of her unequalled melody, for it may lead us to believe, that, 
while receiving the bewildering applauses of two continents, God kept her 
spirit humble, and that by his grace he has attuned her soul to sing the song 
of Redeeming Love forever. 



